In the study of the history of advertising communication in ancient China, references to advertising media are scattered in a few books on the history of advertising. ... (Abridged) The research results of advertising historians are the basis for this article to systematically outline the development and evolution history of ancient Chinese advertising media. The expressions of the three systems of ancient media by communication scholars provide the basic ideas for the research of this article. . This article is guided by the basic theories and methods of communication, takes the progress of communication technology as a clue, and uses the advertising phenomena that existed in different periods as a reference to comprehensively and systematically outline the basic context of the development and evolution of ancient Chinese advertising communication media, and summarizes its role in different The application rules in the environment of productivity development are used to make a basic judgment on the channels, methods and communication levels of advertising communication in ancient China.
Body language - a special symbol for the transmission of advertising information
People in ancient society often used specific body movements, spoken language, tattoos, ornaments, dances, etc. to convey information with their bodies. It is a form of advertising communication as a communication medium or carrier to achieve the purpose. The body or limbs are the most primitive advertising media, and their media functions have been preserved and continued throughout the long years of ancient Chinese society. The commonly used body language in ancient society can be roughly divided into the following categories:
1. Mimicry and sign language. Before the use of language, mimicry and sign language were the most practical and effective ways to convey specific information to the audience. For example, during the hunting process of primitive people, when a person encounters a herd of buffalo, he immediately runs to a high ground where everyone in the same tribe can see him, lifts the body covering with both hands, stretches it to the top of his head, and then slowly Let it go slowly and over and over again. This is the signal to mobilize all members of the tribe to hunt. Primitive people like to work together when hunting. When hunters find traces of animals and need to move covertly, they use sign language to communicate with each other. Those gestures often express the animal's most striking features. Raise your hands high and straighten your index finger to indicate that the beast you see is a kudu with a pair of big horns; bend your middle finger and stretch the other four fingers to indicate that you have found a giraffe; if you find an ostrich, you raise your arms diagonally to symbolize its long neck. Ethnological research has proven that this kind of mimicry and sign language existed everywhere in ancient society and was an important carrier for primitive people to transmit information.
2. Body painting and tattoos. The decoration of painting colors or drawing figures on the body is called body painting, and this kind of decoration originated very early. Hexite, which can be used as a pigment, is often found in Upper Paleolithic sites dating back tens of thousands of years. Until modern times, many ethnic groups who maintain ancient customs still like to paint themselves. During the Dragon Boat Festival, an old custom in my country, ethnic minorities in many areas are accustomed to painting realgar or drawing symbols on their heads, faces, wrists, etc. Dying their teeth black can be said to be a kind of body decoration. Ancient books record that there is a "Black Tooth Country" in the southeast of my country: "Four thousand to the east of the Japanese Kingdom is the Naked Country. Southeast of the Naked Country is the Black Tooth Country, which can be reached by boat in one year." The Dai, Jinuo, Brown and other ethnic groups in Yunnan, my country, usually Chewing betel nut and lime can also make your teeth black over time.
The decoration of tattoos on the surface of the human body is called tattoo, and this custom originated very early. According to ancient records, the Wu, Yue, and Chu people in the Jiangnan area of ??ancient my country worshiped the dragon totem: "The tattoo depicts its body, with ink inside, in the shape of a dragon. When it enters the water, the dragon cannot harm it." Our country includes the Han nationality. Most ethnic groups have the custom of tattooing in ancient or modern times. Li women start getting tattoos between the ages of 12 and 13 to 16 and 17 years old. When you have a lover, you need to tattoo a special mark on your hand. This mark is often tattooed by the lover himself. The Jinuo, Brown, Dulong and other ethnic groups in Yunnan in my country, as well as the Gaoshan ethnic groups in Taiwan, also have the custom of tattooing. ...(Abridged) Because tattoos have a strong identification role in the interactions between clans and tribes in primitive societies and the group activities of primitive people, they also convey specific information during the communication, fighting and intermarriage processes of different groups. The migration and activities of primitive groups also play a role in a wider territory, so it can also be regarded as a primitive advertising medium that can convey life and social information.
3. Body jewelry. Adding decorations to the human body can be traced back to the Late Paleolithic Age. Rich decorations have been found at the Cave Man Site in Zhoukoudian, Beijing, my country. Among them are hollow animal teeth, hollow sea clam shells, drilled stone beads, drilled small gravels, drilled fish bones and grooved bone tubes, etc. They were strung together with straps and put on the body.
There are many kinds of human body ornaments, which can be roughly divided into hair ornaments, head ornaments, ear ornaments, nose ornaments, lip ornaments, neck ornaments, foot ornaments and so on. The wearing of body accessories is closely related to the hairstyles and hairstyles of people in different eras. Ethnic minorities in southwestern my country usually tie their hair into a cone shape, either in front of the forehead or behind the back. During festivals, they are often filled with flowers. Guangxi Yao women's hair styles vary from place to place. They have two bamboo arrows inserted on their heads, about two feet long. Their hair is divided into two strands, knotted on the left and right, wrapped around the arrows, and covered with a gauze scarf, shaped like two butterfly wings. stand. Some wear bamboo hoops with raised ends, shaped like horns, and are tied tightly with beads and silk. She women in some places in eastern Zhejiang wear headdresses made of bamboo tubes, about three feet long, wrapped in red cloth and inlaid with silver. There is a silver medal nailed to the front and back of the bamboo tube, and white beads are hung on it. According to different ornaments, the living habits and characteristics of different ethnic groups can be judged, and specific ideas or cultural information can be conveyed through the matching and combination of different ornaments. Here, human body ornaments not only reflect the joys and sorrows of primitive people, but also spread this life and cultural information to every member of the ethnic group, even to neighboring or hostile clan groups, and the function of primitive advertising is also demonstrated. It is relatively powerful and has obvious advertising "notification" function.
Based on the above materials, it is not difficult to see that in primitive society and the long years of early civilization, different groups of people in vast areas, including China, relied on body language for a long time to convey information. The transmission of specific information that has the function of "informing" and "recognizing" between one group of people and one group of groups is all done in this way. Body language here becomes the original and most important advertising medium.
Secondary surrogate - a specific mark for the transmission of advertising information
In addition to using body language to convey information, primitive people rely more on natural objects in the real world to realize advertising information. transfer. One of these natural objects is naturally generated or exists in nature, such as trees, rocks, etc., and the other, although created by humans, has not been consciously used as an advertising medium, but is in the process of transmitting information. have been borrowed from, such as pictures, ropes, etc. There are two types of substitutes: one is a specific substitute, and the other is a substitute for life.
1. Specific substitutes
(1) Knotted rope. Knotting knots to record events is a common method of primitive information transmission. The practice of tying knots to record events in ancient Chinese society is often described in history books. The Book of Changes records: "In ancient times, people tied knots to rule, and later generations of saints changed it with written contracts. Hundreds of officials "Zhuangzi" records: "In the past, the Rongcheng family... the Zhurong family, the Fuxi family, and the Shennong family were at that time, and the people tied ropes and used them." "Northern History" also mentioned. : "Hunting is a profession, simplicity is a custom, simplicity is a transformation, not writing, just carving wood and knotting ropes." The knotting method has been widely used in ancient Chinese history and has a long history. The Gaoshan people of Taiwan record dates by tying a number of knots according to the number of days and untying one knot every night. The Tibetan Lhoba people use a knife to cut a knot every day. Cutting until the last knot indicates the expiration date, and untying the knot indicates the date of the appointment. When people from Dulong, Yunnan go out alone, they often tie a hemp rope around their waist and tie a knot once a day to record the number of days they have left. The Yao people often get a decision in front of the leader when there is a dispute between two people. The method is that the disputants each hold a rope, and whoever tells a reason ties a knot until the argument is finished. The one with the most knots wins the case. In class society, the tradition of knotting was also inherited by merchants and changed in form and use. In shops, hotels, teahouses and merchant stalls, various banners or signboards are often decorated with various ornaments, strung with ropes, embellished with silk, colorful strips of fabric, various beads or Pai Sui also has many unique shapes, which are made of knotted and woven thick hemp ropes. Here, rope knots become a new medium for delivering advertising messages.
(2) Carved wood. Engraved wood is another symbolic language. History books have also recorded the historical facts of wood carvings to record events in various parts of our country. For example, the "Book of the Later Han Dynasty" records, "If the adults have a call, they will carve wood as a letter." Even if there is no writing, they dare not violate it. "Lingwai Daida" also records: "The Yao people have no writing, and their offers are carved on two wooden boards. People hold one of them and keep it with great faith." "Yunnan Tengyue Prefecture Chronicle" also mentions: "The Yi people have customs , all matters related to loans and credit, general financial arrangements and other matters, I don't know the writing, only use the wood carving as a symbol, each holds half of it, and pays as promised, without any satisfaction.
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In the process of commodity production and exchange, the custom of carving wood as a mark evolved into the inscription of official workers or the marking of celebrity goods, that is, the names of official workers or famous people were stamped on the goods sold. . If we go back further, carved wood can even be regarded as the source of product trademarks and label advertising.
(3) In the Spring and Autumn Period of our country, there are records of using fire and beacons to convey military warnings. A beacon tower is built every ten miles on the Great Wall, using dry wolf dung as fuel. After it is lit, the fire and smoke rise into the sky, which can send emergency warnings to far away places. The ancient poem "The sun sets on the flat sand in the west of the desert, and the stars are high on the mountains." "Come low again; watch the beacon fire in several places on the solitary mountain, and the strong men camp in wait for the drums" is a true portrayal of the application of this primitive information transmission method. This communication media was also used in the business activities of merchants in ancient society. For example, in different periods, there are records of caravans and caravans traveling at night using fire as a signal.
(4) The original method of transmitting information was both visual and auditory. . Information transmission that affects hearing is mainly carried out with the help of sound transmission tools, among which the signal drum is the most common. The cowhide wooden drum of the Jinuo people in my country is also made by hollowing out the two ends of a thick tree and then binding it with hairy yellow cowhide. , hung on the tree and beaten with a mallet. During the New Year, men, women and children gather together to sing and dance when they hear the sound of the drum.
(5) Bamboo trumpets are used by the Nu people in my country during funerals. The message is spread by blowing different numbers of bamboo trumpets to announce the funeral to the whole village. The number of bamboo trumpets increases or decreases according to the identity of the deceased: one bamboo trumpet is played for the unmarried person, two for the married person, and five or six for the elderly and the leader. After hearing the news, the tribe members immediately rushed to the deceased's home and brought eggs to express their condolences. As the class society became more divided, merchants walked through the streets and alleys, creating a variety of information dissemination tools such as blowing, playing, and singing, such as in the Han Dynasty. There are records of merchants playing flutes and selling sugarcane.
(6) Audio equipment. The pottery bells and pottery xuns unearthed from the Miaodigou site in my country’s Neolithic Age and the three-hole pottery xun from the Jiangzhai site all have musical sounds. Function. After entering class society, with the development of commodity production and commodity exchange, the forms of sound advertising have become increasingly colorful. Various utensils in daily life may become the communication media of sound advertising, such as bowls that are closely related to daily life. , lamps, basins, etc., and entertainment-related flutes, harps, harps, drums, gongs, etc., have also become tools for conveying advertising information. For the purpose of advertising, many businessmen have also specially produced loudspeakers to express the characteristics of the industry. Typical examples include the salesman's rattle, the tweezers and forks used by barbers, and the copper clappers used by knife sharpeners.
The widespread use of specific substitutes shows that there are methods and channels for advertising. Big changes. With the frequency of communication activities and the advancement of communication technology, people use all available tools or objects to deliver advertising messages more effectively and more targetedly, making human advertising communication more effective. It is carried out in a wide area and conveys richer ideological, cultural and business information.
2. Life substitutes
(1) Grass mark. Also called grass mustard. It is a naturally growing thing, but when it is inserted into items sold or for sale, it has a symbolic meaning. In different historical periods of ancient Chinese society, grass mustard was used in everything from daily necessities to poor families selling their children due to hunger and cold. "Water Margin" has mentioned grass marks many times. The most famous one is the record about Yang Zhi selling knives: "Yang Zhi took the sword that day, inserted the grass marks into it, and put it on the market for sale." The grass marks here are all there. Functions of advertising media.
(2) Grain ears, fences, and wickers. It often appears in front of restaurants in rural areas. Hanging it randomly in front of the door or on the fence not only serves as a sign, but also shows the simplicity and hospitality of the store. Small fences and wickers can immediately bring the store closer. The distance between customers, businesses and passers-by is also a low-cost advertising medium with excellent communication effects.
(3) Bottles, ladles and brooms. The straw broom is also called "grass brush", "grass pole" and "broomstick". After the Song Dynasty, after the market restrictions were broken, shops could not only be opened in residential areas, but also in markets and countryside. As an advertising logo, straw brooms often appear in wine shops and teahouses. There are many records of these things in the literature of the Song Dynasty. Hong Mai of the Song Dynasty once mentioned in "Rong Zhai Xu Bi": "Today's capital and county wine clerks, as well as the relationship between wine and wine. Everywhere, everyone opened a big curtain outside and covered it with several feet of green and white cloth.
For those who are small, insert them according to their height and size, or hang bottles, ladles, and broom sticks in village stores. "
As an advertising logo, straw broom not only has the particularity of being an auxiliary tool for wine-making, but also has a deeper allusion. It mainly means "sorry broom". Su Shi of the Song Dynasty once chanted: "We must immediately I can't ask Sheng Dou about his name. It should be called fishing hook, also known as broom. "
The "broomstick" here has obviously become another name for wine. It means "drinking to relieve sorrow" and "drunk to relieve a thousand sorrows." Therefore, using a broom as the logo of the hotel is both image-wise and It is vivid, symbolic, and has a strong folkloric color.
In ancient Chinese society, there were many signs of life, most of which were attached to shops and merchant activities, and their scope of use basically did not extend beyond the business area. And the narrow "market" scope, due to frequent use and consumer convention, reflects the joys, sorrows, joys and aesthetic tastes of ordinary people. At the same time, it also reflects the collective wisdom of media users or businesses. However, this type of advertising media is universal. The use also reflects the limitations of people's development and utilization of advertising media at a low level of productivity.
Three handmade advertising media - the industry logo of advertising information delivery
In ancient society. In the long process of development, in the process of adapting to and transforming nature, human beings have continuously enhanced their self-awareness and independent awareness. It has become a conscious action to creatively spread spiritual and cultural information and create social material and cultural wealth with myself as the main body, and it has become a conscious action for advertising. The development and use of media reflect this fact. In ancient times, working people created a wide variety of advertising media with different styles. Advertising communication had a greater influence and became an important part of social development and people's lives.
1. Store advertising media
Store advertising media is the main form of advertising media in ancient China, including restaurants, restaurants, pawn shops, hotel facades and surrounding environments. Specifically, it is divided into Several of the most common situations.
(1) Cover. Cover is one of the most mature forms of advertising media in ancient China. Covers are often characterized by vivid, intuitive shapes, bright colors and unique charm. The folklore of the cover gives people a strong visual impact. From the perspective of composition, the cover is relatively exquisite, including the cover pole, cover frame, cover pick, cover, cover body, cover base and cover pendant. From the shape point of view, , including circles, squares, triangles, rhombuses and irregular shapes; from the content of communication, any information related to business operations or goods and services may appear in the form of disguise; from the perspective of production materials, there are cloth, silk , satin, cotton, copper, iron, wood and other materials, many masks are made of a variety of materials; in terms of expression, they are divided into physical objects, model masks, symbolic masks and specific mark masks.
(2) Signboards. The emergence of signboard media is also closely related to stores. Signboards often appear on the facade or in front of the door, and are often set up by hanging, inlaying, or masonry. . The information conveyed by signboards as an advertising medium is very rich. Specifically, one is to write the name and font size of the store, such as "Laobao Tai", "Jinyang Yu", etc. for a dim sum shop; the other is to convey the business's message. Business philosophy and business characteristics, such as "fair trade" and "no bully" written on the signboard; third, words and phrases reflecting the industry and service scope, such as "stop the car when you know the smell, dismount when you smell the fragrance", etc. As an ancient advertising information dissemination medium, signboards can be divided into different types of banners, vertical signs, hanging boards and sky-high signboards outside the store based on their hanging positions.
(3) Long. As a media for disseminating advertising information, advertising has its own particularities. The bun was originally an earthen platform in front of the hotel where wine was warmed. In order to take care of the wine, a good-looking woman often sat next to the bun. On the one hand, in order to take care of the guests, and on the other hand, in order to attract customers, the woman served as a bun in the Han Dynasty. It has gradually become a custom. "Historical Records" once recorded: "Xiangru set up a wine house to sell wine, and ordered Wenjun to be a tavern." ("Sima Xiangru Lie Biography") Because in the early Han Dynasty, the government allowed private people to sell wine and wine, so there were many people in front of the hotel. There is a wine bar. It has become the hotel's logo.
(4) Cailou and Huanmen. The Song Dynasty opened up the market and large shops with wide facades appeared, which made it possible for Cailou and Huanmen to appear. Cailou refers to the decoration of the store's facade. For example, the door decoration of Sun Yangzheng store in "Along the River During the Qingming Festival" is a type of cailou. Most of the colorful buildings are specially designed according to the preferences of the store owners, and are relatively fixed and unique in style.
Huanmen advertisements refer to temporary facade decorations set up by store operators and merchants during festivals or important events. They are often decorated with colored paper and silk. Because of their strong purpose and obvious marking effect, they are also regarded as one of the ancient advertising media. . In the Song Dynasty, it gradually became fashionable to build colorful buildings and happy doors at the front of the door. "Tokyo Menghua Lu" once recorded: "Every Jingshi hotel has a colorful building and a happy door at the front of the door." ("Restaurant")
(5) Lantern. Lanterns as an advertising medium began in the Five Dynasties. Naideweng once recorded in "Records of Capital City": "The restaurant's doors are decorated with red curtains, gold and red gauze gardenia lamps, etc. It is said that it was due to the visit of Guo Gaozu of the fifth generation to Panlou in Bianjing, and it has become a modern "("Restaurant")
Lanterns are usually hung in a prominent position at the door of a restaurant or teahouse, with the words "wine", "tea" and "inn" written on them. They are very eye-catching and appear even on cold nights. Very warm. The shape of lanterns also varies greatly depending on the characteristics of the industry. For example, restaurant lanterns, wine urns, and round, oval, palace lantern and other shapes. The medicine shop is similar to the gourd.
The use of store advertising media is the inevitable result of the differentiation of businessmen and merchants, and is also an important symbol of commercial prosperity. The use of different types of store advertising media facilitates the exchange of information between merchants and ordinary people, and also makes business operations more convenient. The characteristics of the industry have become more prominent; at the same time, advertising media has begun to play a huge role in beautifying people's lives due to their sophisticated production and beautiful appearance.
2. Advertising media used by merchants
The merchants and merchants had already differentiated during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. The merchants sit in the stalls and run the business, while the merchants walk through the streets and alleys. The advertising media used by merchants is also one of the main forms of advertising media in ancient China.
(1) Rattle. Also known as "Seller's Drum" and "Bulang Drum". It is generally believed that after the opening of the market in the Song Dynasty, salesmen began to use rattles when walking through the streets. Li Hao of the Song Dynasty painted the shape of a rattle in "Picture of a Merchant". During the Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties, rattles were one of the main advertising media used by merchants to attract customers. Advertising media of the same nature as the rattle include gongs, drums, cymbals, bells, bangs, boards, basins, tweezers, wooden fish, nail crutches, etc., which are used by businessmen in different industries. For example, in the Yuan Dynasty, bakery sellers knocked on wooden fish, and shoe repairmen hung spikes and crutches on the shelves to make noises to attract customers. (2) Xiao. During the Eastern Han Dynasty, the flute became a medium for advertising. During the Tang and Song dynasties, this custom was passed down, and became more common during the Song and Yuan dynasties. It was mainly small merchants selling malt candies who used the flute to spread product information. A poet from the Song Dynasty once recited: "The color of the grass attracts the horse fields, and the sound of the flute warms the sky." ("Winter Food Holiday") vividly describes the situation of businessmen using the flute for advertising. In ancient Chinese society, there were many advertising media of this nature, and the more typical ones include flutes, suonas, trumpets, harmonicas, whistles, etc.
The advertising media used by merchants in ancient Chinese society were mainly divided into four categories: blowing, beating, playing and pulling. Merchants from all walks of life have their own unique sound tools, which played a huge role in the dissemination of advertising information in ancient China and became an integral part of folk culture. ...(omitted)
The use of these unique advertising media enabled ancient Chinese advertising and communication activities to expand from commercial central cities to surrounding rural areas, and from coastal commercial centers to the vast inland areas. Advertising communication It also breaks the limitations of regional communication and begins to play a role in a wider field, affecting people's daily lives, business processes and social progress.
3. Print advertising media
With the development of printing technology, especially the development of engraving printing technology, printing media has begun to play a huge role in the transmission of advertising information. As a new advertising medium that emerged after the Tang and Song Dynasties, its expression forms and contents have become increasingly colorful in the business activities of merchants.
(1) Copper plate printing media. The maturity of engraving printing technology led to the emergence of a new type of advertising media - advertising copper plates in the Northern Song Dynasty. The most typical physical object is the advertising copper plate of Liujia Needle Shop in Jinan, which is now in the Chinese History Museum. This is a type of engraving that combines trademarks and advertising information. The copper plate is 12.5 cm wide and 13 cm high. The front is engraved with the logo of "Jinan Liu's Acupuncture Shop" and the center of the picture is engraved with the pattern of "Jade Rabbit Holding a Pestle and Pounding Medicine". There are eight characters on both sides of the pattern, "Recognize the white rabbit in front of the door as a mark", which are arranged on both sides. There is also special advertising text below the pattern.
The advertising copper plates of Liujia Needle Shop are regarded as typical representatives of printed advertisements.
(2) Advertising posters. Advertising paintings appeared in the Southern Song Dynasty and were printed on paper. According to historical records, printed advertisements for the drama "Acid Eye Drops" appeared in the Southern Song Dynasty. The content of the picture is that two people in costumes are located in the center of the picture. One person points his finger to the eye to indicate that he has an eye disease, and the other person holds eye drops and asks him to use it. The advertising performance is similar to today's advertising posters, very vivid and vivid.
(3) Book advertising media. After the Ming and Qing Dynasties, engraving printing technology developed further, and engraving and printing books in bookshops gradually became a trend. In order to promote the quality of the books they printed or engraved, booksellers began to advertise in the prefaces or postscripts, or even on the covers of the books. In addition to becoming a carrier of cultural information, the books themselves also became a new advertising medium. For example, an advertisement was printed at the end of the book "The Romance of the West Chamber" published in the Hongzhi period of the Ming Dynasty. The advertisement said: "We would like to redraw the drawings according to the scriptures, participate in the editing of the large-character edition, and combine the singing with the pictures so that you can stay in the guest house and travel on the boat. "In the middle of a leisurely stroll, visitors can take a look at this, singing clearly and refreshingly." This type of advertising form has become increasingly popular with the continuous development of the book printing industry.
(4) Wooden New Year pictures. Wooden New Year pictures were very popular in the Qing Dynasty. New Year picture shops were spread all over the country, and advertising New Year pictures became a new advertising media. For example, the advertising New Year pictures for the "Four Seasons Famous Dishes" unearthed in Taohuawu, Suzhou, contain the drama and illustrations of "Lost Street Pavilion", and this kind of New Year pictures also serve as the packaging decoration of the "Four Seasons Famous Dishes" and have a distinctive advertising effect. effect.
As an advertising medium for handmade products, it is mostly a new form of information transmission that is created, processed and continuously improved by businessmen through observation and accumulation in the long-term business process, combined with the characteristics of the industry. Because most of these media are produced with the business activities of merchants and become an important part of their business activities, they have obvious behavioral marking effects.