Pursue the evolution of packaging function and form (2)

2. The perfect combination of form and function - folk natural packaging materials

In the long-term production and life, the ancient working people used wisdom and adapted to local conditions and discovered many natural packaging materials such as wood, rattan, grass, leaves, bamboo and stems from the natural environment around them.

According to legend, during the Warring States period, people commemorated the great patriotic poet Qu Yuan on the day of the Dragon Boat Festival and created a unique food--Zizi, which wraps glutinous rice in fragrant loquat leaves, shaped in a unique triangle, and then used on the outside. Bundle the line, very beautiful. During the cooking process, the natural fragrance of the eucalyptus leaves penetrated into the glutinous rice and formed a unique and delicious food. The food that perfectly combines this form and function has been circulated to the rich variety of foods today and is still loved by the majority of people. Visible in its packaging form of vitality.

In the section of the classic Chinese literary classic “Water Margin” and “Lu Zhi Shen Quan Jia Xia Guan Xi”, the story of the butcher's town Kansai using lotus leaf to wrap up the chopped meat was described. However, Lu Zhishen finally dumped the whole package of meat. Face. It can be seen that there is a long history of non-governmental use of natural roast meat. This is undoubtedly a scientific and effective means of preserving food. Liu Zongyuan once wrote in the poem about “covering the salt and returning the guests to the green barren, and picking up the rice from the rice dumplings”, which is a true portrayal of the use of folk packaging materials at that time.

There is a Chinese saying: "I don't know what kind of medicine is sold in the gourd." Similarly, the use of hoist load to hold wine has been widely used in ancient times. Gourd shell is hard, good protection, can play a good anti-corrosion moisture effect. Beautiful appearance, and easy to carry. Modern, gourd as a packaging material has been rarely used, but its favorite styling features are often applied to product packaging design.

Bamboo, rattan, and grass are also commonly used as packaging materials. Its origin should be earlier than pottery, but due to the corrosion of these materials, it is difficult to have earlier physical preservation. In the 1950s and 1960s, a large number of bamboo woven pieces were found in the Neolithic site of Qianshanjing in Wuxing, Zhejiang. The environment around Taihu Lake is very suitable for the growth of bamboo and rattan in the primitive society. Therefore, it may be an important production area for bamboo weaving at that time. Among more than 200 artifacts, there are many varieties such as gongs, baskets, gongs, glutinous rice cakes, bamboo mats, farm implements and so on. Most of the bamboo weaving uses processed and scraped rayon to compile various patterns such as herringbone pattern, plum pattern, lozenge pattern and cross pattern, which indicates that people have long paid attention to the combination of practicality and aesthetics. In the "Yang Jie Pian" of the Ming Dynasty, a wonderful method was adopted for the transportation of fragile goods--porcelain: "At the beginning of the sale, each device contains a little sand and a few dozens of beans and wheat. When tied together, the wetlands are often sprinkled with water. After a long time, bean and wheat shoots are sprouted and wrapped around the ground to make sure that they don't damage the place where the person breaks the board.” This method uses the characteristics of the plant in packaging design. Applied to the extreme, full of wisdom, it is exclaiming.

In addition to these, hemp, wood, leather, etc. are often used as packaging materials. China is the hometown of silk, and silk is naturally used as packaging material to make bags and boxes.

The ancient working people rationally and scientifically applied the packaging design by mastering the characteristics of natural materials. The rationality of the materials, the ingenious production, and the beauty of the decorative styling fully reflect the forms and functions pursued by the ancients in packaging design. The perfect unity still has great inspiration and reference for our packaging design today.

3. The Emergence and Development of Business: The Embody of Packaging Promotion Function

China’s commercial activities began very early, and it was about the late period of primitive society 560 years ago. When the productivity has developed to a certain level, with the division of labor in society and the surplus of products, commercial activities will naturally occur. In the "Easy Copulative", there is "Palestinian, Shennong's work, ... ... dusty at the beginning of the country, the city for the day, the people of the world, gather the world's goods, transactions and retreat, each got its place." “Dust in the country” refers to the trading place. “The day in the city is the city” refers to the transaction time, indicating that the business exchange activities at that time were relatively frequent, and there was a fixed time and place. In the period of Shang Dynasty (1751-1923 BC, 1122 BC), the currency was first produced and used, with "Pui" as the currency and "Peng" as the unit. During the Western Zhou Dynasty, Wen Wang took advantage of the policy of “tax exemption without taxation” for tax exemption, which greatly promoted the development of commerce and established a perfect commercial municipal organization. During the Spring and Autumn Period, commercial metropolitan cities such as Xianyang, Chongqing, Luoyang, Luoyang and Linyi were formed, and the social status of businessmen was also improved. For example, Lu Buwei bought Qin Qing’s post with the money earned by the business. There are also examples of illegal trade in salt, Guo vertical cast iron and Fubi princely.

The development of commerce has brought about commercial competition. Businessmen have promoted the emergence and development of trademarks and packaging in order to safeguard the credibility of their own products. In 1964, many Western Han ironworks unearthed in Xianyang, Shaanxi Province and later in Changge County, Henan Province were cast with the word “river” on the top, “Chuan” for the Luanchuan, and the group for Yangcheng (now Dengfeng County, Henan Province). In addition, some of the artifacts unearthed from the Western Han Dynasty Tombs in the outskirts of Beijing's suburbs were cast with the word “fishing” on the iron axe and Yuyang County (the Miyun County, the Beijing suburb of today). These can be seen as the use of the earliest product trademarks.

Regarding the use of packaging, in our country will not be later than the Warring States period, in the "Han Fei Zi" recorded the story of "buy 椟 椟 椟 , , , ,", it is a matter of Zheng Guoren who did not know the goods to buy a gorgeous pearl 匣 tweezers at a high price, and The bead was returned to the businessman. This also illustrates the importance of commercial packaging at the time and the attractiveness of packaging at the time to consumers.

The commercial civilization of Europe is based on the Mediterranean coast. The development of maritime transport has promoted the development of commerce. For example, Egyptian glass containers and methods of manufacture quickly spread to continental Europe. Ancient Egypt also appeared in early commodity labels. In the 13th century BC wine jars and pots, affixed or affixed with a sticker indicating the written text of the content. In the containers of wine stored in the palaces of the 18th Dynasty of Egypt (1567-1320 BC), there were marked "top wines" and "special premium wines" on the containers to indicate the categories. This may be wines. The earliest origin of the packaging. In addition, on the tiles of the ancient Egyptian temple built in the British Museum (around 1450 BC), there are maker's name marks. Such marks also appear in some commemorative carvings and handmade ornaments of the same period, indicating that Producers have begun to have brand awareness. In ancient Roman times, the prosperity of commerce led to the emergence of many commercial propaganda means. In the ruins of ancient Pompeii, you can see that many of the taverns that actually originated in the Roman period were decorated with wooden branches on the signboards. Come. These all reflect the promotion of commercial development on the promotion of commercial sales.
(to be continued)