The Educational Function of Chinese Folk Arts Exemplified by Shanxi Folk Kang Wei Paintings

— Like other forms of art, the functions of Chinese folk arts fall into three categories: physical, social and personal. The physical function refers to the practical applications of folk arts in everyday life and productive activities, whereas the educational function operates in the social and personal categories. Shanxi folk Kang Wei painting, nurtured by the profound Yellow River Civilization, has been explored as an example in our research. The field investigation and document studies show that the paintings are mainly intended for the edification of the masses from the social and personal perspectives: informing the masses of the important events, conducting aesthetic and moral education, passing on Confucius personal virtues, maintaining family values, strengthening national spirit, regulating and guiding folk customs, although the physical function of the paintings is to keep the beddings clean from wall dust.

ISSN: 2456-7620 https://dx.doi.org/10.22161/ijels.61. 16 127 2008. As indicated by the name, they have been painted around the surrounding walls of Kang (炕) [1] as a physical protection for the beddings from the wall dust, and later as a kind of interior decoration.

III. THE TRANS-ERA EXPRESSIVE POWER
The long-term educational function is endowed by its forceful trans-era expressive power, which is decided by the unique composition of Kang Wei paintings: the boundary pattern, Huakong ( the space for the major pattern) and screens (in some parts of Shanxi   surprise, I could repeat the words and dialogues that matched each picture even before I learned to read". art. [19] On special occasions, such as people moved into new houses, weddings, babies' birthdays, seniors' birthdays, or during Spring Festival and other important festivals, friends, neighbors and relatives gathered in the house for a celebration. The first things to catch people's sight were usually the colorful paintings on the walls.
They would talk about the stories and figures, comment on the workmanship, and highly praise the home-owner's choice of themes, patterns and colors.

Aesthetic Education
From the wall protection to a window displaying The interactive communication between presentation and reception will inevitably result in a deep-rooted mental structure for the long term audience " [21] .
Whatever freedom the audience enjoys in appreciation, he/she is bounded to be regulated and affected by the art form once the aesthetic object for appreciation is chosen.
After absorbing numerous adornment art forms, the boundary pattern of Kang Wei Paintings has evolved into a comprehensive body of artistic expression, a real pluralistic co-existence. The artistic volition of a nation gets the purest expression in adornment art. [22] In the development process of different periods, climes and nations, the local people have created a common art form: the decorative art, a visual form that reflects regional uniqueness and inherent artistic sense. The boundary patterns of the paintings, the abstractions of the objective world, provide a special perspective for the audience to understand and appreciate art, and upgrade their interpretation of the objective world in the regional environment to a high level sublimation. Under the circumstances, the audience's knowledge of natural phenomena will no longer stay on the level of objective existence, but move forward to a long-standing subtle influence.

Moral Education
Kang Wei paintings cover a wide range of subjects,

Flowers and birds
Flower and bird paintings are very popular with the local people as they are beautiful and bear good symbolic meanings.
Chrysanthemum stands for seclusion. Lotus refers to the moral quality of rising unsullied from the mud.
Bamboo branches imply noble characteristics. peacock. etc. [23] The stories, characters, flowers and birds in these allegorical paintings have brought the people in the rooms aesthetic enjoyment and moral osmosis.

Passing Confucius Personal Virtues
In connection with humanity, Confucius proposed

Regulating and Guiding Folk Customs
The mode of viewing the world will gradually become the popular way that will be accepted by more and more people, and will finally turn into the conventional pattern of thinking [24] . Kang    2. We are deeply indebted to the help of all the interviewees in our field investigations.