Pursue the evolution of packaging function and form (1)

Functional and Morphological Evolution of Packaging

Ancient Egyptians believed that after death, the soul would be freed from the body and linger in the universe. If the soul came back and found that the body was not there, it would leave forever. Therefore, we must find a way to preserve the remains. With the advancement of human civilization, funerals have become meticulous and complex. People used stone or brick to build tombs, especially the emergence of powerful ruling classes, and huge tomb buildings like the pyramids also emerged. Although the human body is in a luxurious catacomb environment, it quickly rots after contact with water, air and bacteria. Therefore, people also think of ways to extract human internal organs and make the bodies into mummies with special medicine.

After about 70 days of antiseptic treatment, the mummy is wrapped in 20-30m long linen cloth, covered with a large piece of cloth, and wrapped with a piece of cloth again as before. all over. Many cloth strips contain curses and the name of the deceased, and the face of the deceased is painted on the surface of the cloth. The remains of the parcels are to be smeared with resin to isolate the air, and finally the people are put in the middle.

This may be the earliest human use of "packaging" means to maintain the long-term behavior of objects, its purpose is very strong, and the use of the most advanced technology that humans can grasp at that time. Since then, the “packaging” behavior has continued to appear in many fields such as people’s lives, labor, and rituals, and it has combined the emerging scientific and technological achievements in a timely manner.

In the long course of civilization evolution of mankind, every scientific and technological invention, social changes, productivity enhancement, and people’s lifestyle advancement and environmental changes will have a great influence on and promote the function and form of packaging. From the development of packaging, the footprint of human civilization can be clearly seen. As a cultural form in human civilization, packaging design understands its development and evolution, and has a very practical significance for today's design work.

1. The original form of packaging - the container for the pursuit of beauty

From today's understanding of the packaging concept, a container does not count as a true package, but it does possess some basic functions of the package, such as protection of stored items, ease of use, and portability. And the container has a long history of development. It has also played a role in promoting the production of packaging. In our country, the ancient working people used wisdom and hard work to create a variety of beautifully shaped containers, just as Marx said: “An animal is created according to the degree of need of the kind it belongs to, and people are good at following each The degree of need of the species to produce, and is always good at dealing with objects with appropriate measures, so people are created in accordance with the laws of the United States."

(1) Pottery

China's pottery originated very early. In 1962, pottery that was more than 8000 years old was unearthed in Xianren Cave, Wannian County, Jiangxi Province. Especially in the late Neolithic Age, the pottery technology has developed to a very high level. People use natural hematite and manganate pigments to draw decorative patterns on pottery and burn them into exquisite colored pottery. The decorative patterns of painted pottery include natural phenomena such as plants, animals, and landscapes, as well as figures and abstract geometric figures. The styling techniques of the designs are concise and general, rich in rhythm, smooth and robust, and highly decorative, fully reflecting the pursuit and exploration of modeling language and form beauty of ancient humans.

(2) bronze ware

In China, as early as the Shang Dynasty, the bronze ware was widely used, but it was mainly used by slave owners and nobles to satisfy their luxury life. The ordinary working people could not afford it. The shape of the bronzes is rich and varied. It can be divided into cooking utensils, food utensils, wine utensils, water utensils, etc. only as a container. The main cooking utensils are: Ding (meat utensils for cooking meat), Poria (sound force, porridge utensils), (sound play, cooking utensils), and so on. The most commonly used foods are oysters (tracks), which are used to hold oysters, quail, and other staple foods, equivalent to the current bowl. Due to the many sacrificial ceremonies of the slave owners, the shapes of the wine wares are very rich. There are mainly the princes (articles for drinking and warm wine), horns (drinking fetal), 觚 (audio tents, drinking utensils), 觯 (tones, drinking device). ), there are pots, pots (purpose again), 觥 (sound public), statues and other wine container and 盉 (sound 禾, bartender equipment) and so on. Water heaters have Kam and plates.

The creation of bronze wares reflects the ancient people’s mastery of the manufacturing process and the aesthetic rules of decoration. Three feet of the tripod form a strong sense of stability; the slender, rhythmic shape of the dragonfly is like a blossoming flower. In addition to the flat pattern on the decoration, there have also been a lot of three-dimensional sculpture decoration, for example, to make the cover of the New Zealand bird-shaped cover, the cover of the skull made of two-cornered animal shape, greatly enriched the bronze model.

(3) Lacquerware

China began to use lacquer as a coating, which began in the Qian Xia era more than 4,000 years ago, but the actual use of lacquerware may be earlier than the legend. In 1976, wooden lacquer bowls and paint cans were discovered about 7000 years ago in the Hemudu site in Yuyao, Zhejiang. In the Shang and Zhou dynasties, lacquerware technology had already reached a fairly high level. In 1973, dozens of pieces of lacquer ware were found in the tombs of the Shang Dynasty in the west of the city of Artemisia. These lacquer wares were Zhu Hongdi, black lacquer patterns, and were interlaced up and down to form a variety of factories. Beautiful pattern. In the historical development of the future, lacquer wares have continued to flourish since they were traditionally handicrafts. Every new historical period will see new manufacturing techniques that will make lacquer ware more beautiful. In the figure paintings of ancient China, we can often see lacquerware as a prop, such as a cosmetic box and a food box. It even had an impact on European culture. In the 18th century, the famous British furniture craftsman Tom Tippet had designed a unique style of furniture according to the characteristics of Chinese lacquerware. It became popular in the history of furniture and was called “Qipete”. era".

(4) Porcelain

China's most representative handicraft is the devaluation of ceramics, which has almost become a symbol of traditional Chinese culture. Ceramics as a container, in the development of Chinese history, the wide application, long history, and great influence are unmatched by other kinds of containers. Strictly speaking, the porcelain in the scientific sense began in the Eastern Han Dynasty, but from the pottery to the porcelain, in the middle of the Warring States period, it took a semi-ceramic pottery transition. By the Eastern Han Dynasty, porcelain was becoming more and more pure, ceramic porcelain was thinner, and the glaze was brighter. The combination of glaze and tire was perfect. China's porcelain history can be basically divided into three stages: celadon, a white porcelain, and a colored porcelain. Until today, besides handicrafts and daily necessities, ceramics is also a commonly used traditional packaging style, such as liquor and Chinese medicine packaging.

In addition to the above-mentioned major forms, such as gold and silverware, stoneware, jade, woodware, glass, etc., have all been used as containers.

In terms of the use of containers, different civilizations have roughly the same experience, but each civilization has its own unique side. Like the ancient Egyptians, as early as 3000 BC, they began to manually cast or blow glassware to hold articles. Ancient Greek civilization was very good at using stone; in ancient Europe there was a vast forest, and the use of wood was very good. It was very early in the use of wood barrels to make wine, and even created a huge container like a Trojan horse.

(to be continued)