In traditional culture, deer is an animal with divine power. Deer in myths and legends are often the mounts of immortals. When Laozi left Hangu Pass, he rode a green ox, but in the "Biography of Immortals", "Laozi rode a white deer into his mother's womb". Li Bai spent his whole life searching for immortals and asked, "In the poem 'Dreaming of the Heavenly Mother's Lament of Farewell,' there is a famous line that goes, 'Let's set the white deer among the green cliffs, and ride to visit the famous mountains.'. The white deer of the Antarctic immortal is not only depicted in longevity paintings, but also shines brightly in literature. The White Deer Spirit in Journey to the West is the mount of the South Pole Immortal, who stole his coiled dragon cane and descended to the mortal world as a demon. In "The Legend of the White Snake", Bai Niangzi ventured alone into Kunlun Mountain to steal the revived Lingzhi fairy grass, but was stopped by the crane and deer fairy children. The Lu Tong in the Qing Dynasty's supernatural novel "The Biography of a Female Immortal" transformed into a Taoist, and after descending to the mortal world, he became a troublemaker. The animated film "Ne Zha 2", which has repeatedly broken box office records this year, features one of the "villains", Lu Tong, who is a disciple of the Infinite Immortal (based on the Antarctic Immortal) and serves as the leader of the demon hunting team, with a significant role. In fact, as early as prehistoric civilizations, people had a great admiration for deer. In the Mongolian Plateau, there are many prehistoric stone pillars and blocks carved with deer running patterns, collectively known as "deer stones". The large horned deer depicted on the Yinshan rock paintings in Inner Mongolia is particularly eye-catching, with tree like antlers occupying most of the rock paintings. Deer is light and agile, with an elegant body shape. Due to its preference for social gatherings and gentle personality, it has been extended to symbolize guests and friends. The sound of deer chirping, eating wild apples. I have a guest to play the sheng and drum the zither. "This poem" Xiaoya: The Sound of Deer "occupies an important position in the Book of Songs. The ancients called the banquet for entertaining guests the "Deer Singing Banquet", symbolizing the joy and harmonious coexistence of guests and hosts. According to Zhu Xi's "Biography of Poetry Collection", "Lu Ming" was originally sung by kings when entertaining courtiers, but later gradually spread to the people and could also be sung at local banquets. In the late Eastern Han Dynasty, Cao Cao quoted these four lines of poetry in his "Short Song Xing" to express his thirst for talent. In the Tang Dynasty, the "Lu Ming Banquet" became a celebration banquet for the new imperial examination, held the day after the announcement of the results, and people sang "Lu Ming" at the banquet. The beauty and elegance of deer can be seen in the shape of the character 'deer'. The character "deer" in oracle bone script resembles a stag with branches and double horns. In Chinese characters, characters with "Lu" as the radical or radical often have meanings closely related to the original meaning of "Lu". The character 'li' is closely related to the beauty of deer. For a long time, deer were one of the most important hunting objects for ancient people. Later, 'chasing deer' was extended to symbolize the struggle for power. Numerous deer remains have been discovered at the Shijiahe Cultural Site in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River, dating back 7000 to 4000 years ago. In the Shang Dynasty, deer became an important hunting target for nobles, and there are many records of deer catching in oracle bone inscriptions unearthed from the Yin ruins. In the Yin Shang oracle bone inscriptions exhibition at the Shandong Museum, there is a divination bone called "Capturing Deer" with the inscription "Hunting, catching. Capturing Deer Fifty and Six". It records the glorious achievements of the Shang king in a field hunting activity: he captured fifty-six deer. At the end of the Qin Dynasty, strategist Kuai Tong famously said, "If Qin loses its deer, the whole world will chase after it." As a result, "who will be the winner of the deer" and "who will fight in the Central Plains" became synonymous with seizing power. The Song Dynasty poet Zhang Yan wrote in his poem "Eight Sounds of Ganzhou", "Why bother chasing deer? The banana (through the 'woodcut') dreams of the Qiantang River. Among them, "Chasing the Deer" uses an allusion from "Records of the Grand Historian", while "Jiaomeng" comes from "Jiaolu Dream" in "Liezi · King Mu of Zhou". The people of Zheng killed a deer in the wild, afraid of being seen, and hid it with firewood. After waking up from the dream, they couldn't find the deer, metaphorically referring to the gains and losses of the world as a dream. King Wu of Zhou defeated King Zhou and engaged in a major battle with King Zhou of Shang in Muye (Xinxiang, Henan). After the defeat of the Zhou army, King Zhou of Shang returned to Lutai in Moyi (i.e. Chaoge, Qixian County, Henan Province) and "covered himself with pearls and jade, and burned himself to death by fire". In the supernatural novel "Investiture of the Gods", King Zhou had no way and built wine ponds, meat forests, and deer terraces. In fact, the mistake of "Lutai" being "Lintai" is that due to its similar font shape, it is actually a warehouse for storing goods. The "Records of the Grand Historian" records: "Thick taxes were levied to solidify the money of Lutai." Lutai was actually a palace and garden building of the Shang Dynasty, where King Zhou accumulated wealth. After King Wu of Zhou conquered the Shang Dynasty, he "scattered the money of Lutai. Nowadays, 'Lutai Chaoyun' has become one of the eight scenic spots in Qi County's' Qiyuan '. Coincidentally, in the Nordic epic poem Beowulf, the Danish king built the "Deer Hall" for knights to feast, symbolizing the king's power with a stag. Deer is still a symbol of auspiciousness. As early as the Yangshao culture period, deer patterns, bird patterns, fish patterns, and frog patterns were collectively known as the four totemic symbols. According to the "Spring and Autumn Annals of Dou Shu", "Yao Guang disperses into deer", Yao Guang is the auspicious light, and deer is formed by the aggregation of Yao Guang, symbolizing good luck. Legend has it that the images of dragons and qilins, two sacred animals, are also derived from deer, and the shape of dragon horns is similar to deer antlers. In traditional longevity paintings, deer are often accompanied by longevity stars, and the pattern of deer holding lingzhi in their mouths is often used to express wishes for longevity. In addition, the homophone between "deer" and "lu" represents good fortune and official luck, often combined with elements such as cranes, bats, pine and cypress to form patterns, symbolizing auspiciousness and wealth. When a hundred deer gather together, they are praised as "Bai Lu", symbolizing endless wealth and blessings. The combination of deer and bats symbolizes "both good fortune and good fortune". The homophone between "deer" and "road" implies smooth sailing in all directions. The Painting of the Deer King in Cave 257 of the Mogao Grottoes of Dunhuang is a horizontal scroll mural in the Northern Wei Dynasty and the most complete comic book of the same kind. It tells the story of a beautiful nine color deer king who saved a person who accidentally fell into the water and was nearly drowned, but was betrayed by that person. The classic animated film "Nine Colored Deer" released by Shanghai Animation Film Studio in 1981 was based on this mural. Deer is still a symbol of love, carrying special meanings in ancient weddings. In the Book of Rites, Shihun Rites, it is recorded that the ritual for scholars to receive tribute is as follows:. During the wedding ceremony, deer skin is regarded as an important ritual, symbolizing the beautiful wishes of flourishing offspring and population. In addition, the idiom "Hongju Deer Cart" vividly depicts the deep emotions of mutual love and shared joys and sorrows between husband and wife. Nowadays, 'little deer bumping around' is a classic phrase used by young people to express their hearts and love. Deer scarf is a clothing worn by ancient hermits, simplified from "deer skin scarf", specifically referring to a headscarf made of deer skin in ancient times, also known as "deer scarf". In ancient times, hermits used wearing a deer skin hat as a symbol of their identity. The Tang Dynasty poet Wei Zhuang depicted the indifferent image of a hermit wearing a deer scarf and holding a bamboo cane in his poem "On the Rainy Pool, Presenting to a Marquis" with the line "The deer scarf, the bamboo cane, and the Ge robe are light". Deer elements are also widely used in decorative patterns of porcelain, embroidery, wood carving, New Year paintings, and architecture. During the Qin Dynasty, the pattern of "deer cart ascending to immortality" had already appeared on the painted bricks. The deer pattern on the Ding kiln porcelain of the Song Dynasty imitates the deer painting from life with delicate craftsmanship. The Jin Dynasty printed deer fold plate features a deer as the main image, surrounded by patterns such as peonies, lotus flowers, chrysanthemums, sunflowers, and peonies. In contemporary design, there are also many cases of using deer elements. The logo design of Shenzhen Luming Culture Theme Park incorporates geometric and minimalist treatment of traditional deer silhouettes, with simple and dynamic lines that retain classical charm while injecting the refined beauty of modern visual language. Some contemporary home designs abstract the delicate fractal features of deer antlers into lamp shapes, which not only showcase elegant style but also carry rich cultural connotations. The Palace Museum has launched the "Painting Tour of Thousand Miles of Mountains and Rivers" digital immersive exhibition, which cleverly utilizes cutting-edge projection and interactive technology to bring the deer in ancient paintings to life. The audience seems to be immersed in the mountains and rivers, getting close to the leisurely herd of deer, achieving a cultural roaming across time and space. (New Society)