Three Schools of Folk Paper-cutting in China

Shandong folk paper-cutting:

Shandong folk paper-cut can be roughly divided into two categories from the modeling style.

One is the boldness of Bohai Bay, which is in the same strain as the paper-cutting in other provinces in the Yellow River Basin. One is the exquisite paper-cut with characteristics in the coastal area of Jiaodong, Shandong Province, which is mainly line-based and combines line and surface. It seems to come down in one continuous line with the subtle and complicated style of stone reliefs in the Han Dynasty in Shandong Province, and with its intensive decorative means, it makes the simple and refreshing appearance more full and rich.

Shandong Jiaodong calls a woman with good skills a "liar", and people are proud of it no matter which village they are in. Their flower patterns are often spread around with fireworks on wallpaper, becoming the flower arrangement of villages far and near. The most common use of paper-cutting is to decorate windows. Most of the windows in Jiaodong are slender lattices, and generally only small flowers can be attached. Women give full play to their creativity, cut the big composition into strips by breaking it into parts, and then stick it on the window to form a complete picture. This kind of paper-cut called "window flower" is usually stuck on the "window heart". There are also "horn flowers", "window flowers" and "cockfighting flowers" hanging in front of the window, which constitute a series of "inter-culture". In order to match the layout of holiday rooms, paper-cutting is also used to decorate walls and ceilings, as well as decals for utensils.

Since ancient times, Shandong paper-cutting has shown its unique aesthetic function more and more. Therefore, folk "magicians" who are good at juggling pay more attention to skills. Those broken lines and burrs as thin as mosquito's feet often make people feel a wonder that ordinary people can't achieve.

Anhui folk paper-cutting:

Anhui folk paper-cut formed a professional team of artists earlier, replacing ordinary aesthetic creation with its embryonic form of artistic commerce.

However, I have always believed that whether craftsman-style paper-cut works are folk or not depends mainly on the objects they serve. If it is based on the general level of workers' collective aesthetic consciousness, it is also attached to the category of folk art. Conversely, if you are already showing off your stunts to cater to the leisure of the aristocratic class, it is no different from the royal craftsmen hired in the palace to carve dragons and phoenixes to make wedding dresses for others. Most of the "gardeners" in Anhui belong to the former, and Cheng Jianli in Fuyang is the most representative one.

Cheng Jianli likes to cut flowers since he was a child and studies hard with his grandmother. He is very spiritual. At first, he arranged flowers for the villagers voluntarily. Later, he made a living by skill, picked flowers and swam around the rivers and lakes, and practiced a good craft, singing flower songs in his mouth and carving patterns ordered by women in his hand. For him, there is no need to think hard about the composition of the business, and he will start working when he has a plan. Any shape of paper has an image, just tap its spiritual door with scissors in your hand.

This is especially true of the "Trident" painting. The outline of the veranda is like a few natural strokes dipped in thick ink, but with a little care, two relatively burning eyes are cut out, "painting eyes" are cut just right, and "playing eyes" are also pointed out-the alert eyes of two people looking for each other in the dark.

Yangzhou folk paper-cutting:

Yangzhou is one of the earliest areas where paper-cutting is popular. During the Sui and Tang Dynasties, people regarded paper-cutting as a kind of fun, embellishing and beautifying life. Speaking of it, it has something to do with Emperor Yang Di Yang Guang. After Yang Guang proclaimed himself emperor, he began to build Yangzhou in the first year of Daye (605), and when Hangou was completed and the canal was opened to traffic, he built a large-scale branch library here. He has been to Yangzhou three times and had a good time.

In Shanglinyuan, west of Yangzhou, there are exotic flowers, exotic plants, rare birds and animals from all over the country. Whenever he takes the maid-in-waiting to the garden at night, he doesn't turn on the light, so many fireflies are caught and sent there. All over the mountains are fluorescent, as bright as day. In winter, the flowers and trees in the garden wither, the water in the pool freezes, and the wanderers of Emperor Yang are not reduced. However, ladies-in-waiting imitate folk paper-cutting, decorate branches with colorful brocade, hang them on trees, and cut them into lotus flowers, dragonflies and lotus roots. Remove the ice from the pool and arrange the water one by one, just like the gorgeous scenery at the turn of spring and summer, which is pleasing to the eye. This kind of "firefly garden" and "cut music", like "lost building" and "dragon boat", reflect the evil life of emperor Yang Di, but from the side of cutting the ribbon for flowers, Yangzhou paper-cutting has a long history.

In the Tang Dynasty, Yangzhou had the custom of paper-cutting to welcome the Spring. On the day of beginning of spring, folk paper-cuts are flowers, and they are also cut into spring butterflies, spring money and spring victory, "hanging on the top of a beauty or under a flower", which makes people feel happy. Li Shangyin, a poet in the Tang Dynasty, wrote the sentence "Carving gold to win the tradition, and cutting the ribbon to make people start the golden style", praising the beauty that paper-cutting is loved by people. At that time, paper-cutting was still superstitious. Yangzhou folk paper-cut people, paper horses and paper money are used to pay homage to ghosts and gods. Du Fu, a great poet, wrote in Peng ADB: "Warm soup is enough for me, and paper-cutting is enough for my soul", which is a reflection of this custom. 1980 In the spring, all walks of life in Yangzhou welcomed "Master Jian Zhen" back to his hometown to visit relatives. Yangzhou artists made a set of paper-cuts of Jian Zhen Da Monk, and Mr. Zhao Puchu wrote a poem "Recalling Jiangnan" for it, including the sentence "The moon sings all over the city, and the paper-cuts are magical and memorable". Love has inspired thousands of years of local customs, and the pen of genius has expressed his hometown.

The paper industry flourished in the Tang Dynasty, and there were large paper workshops in Yangzhou. During the Tang and Song Dynasties, a large number of high-quality tribute papers were produced. As a powerful material condition, it has also promoted the development of paper-cutting art. Since ancient times, there have been many exotic flowers and grasses in Yangzhou. Since the Tang and Song Dynasties, Yangzhou has been a satrap and poet, sending flowers and trees, decorating elegance, doing many things and writing many famous articles. This is an important factor in the theme of paper-cutting. Yangzhou paper-cut is dominated by flowers, which is indeed an important embodiment of the Millennium tradition.

Folk art influences, interacts and promotes each other. Yangzhou folk embroidery has an indissoluble bond with paper-cutting. First draw the embroidery pattern, cut it into paper, and then stick it on the cloth for embroidery. This method has lasted for a long time in Yangzhou, and it is still used in folk embroidery until now. Embroidery is also called embroidery. In the past, Yangzhou people always called paper-cut artists "cut flowers", which is due to the close relationship between the two arts.

In Qing Dynasty, Yangzhou brought prosperity to the city because of the development of salt industry in Jianghuai. Although salt merchants live in luxury, ordinary people also pay attention to clothes. Embroidery is the beauty of the room, from curtains to bedding pillowcases to mirror sachets and handkerchief pencil cases. As for weddings, birthdays and festivals, more embroidery patterns are used. These embroideries are based on paper cutting. Paper-cut artists use a pair of scissors and some plain paper to cut out vivid and auspicious patterns, so there are many folk artists who make a living by paper-cutting in Yangzhou. According to legend, during the reign of Jia Dao, the famous artist Bao Jun was famous for his exquisite skills. Under Baojun's scissors, flowers, birds, fish, insects and butterflies are all fascinating, because they have the reputation of "God scissors". At that time, people appreciated his cutting skills very much, and gave him a high evaluation of "Let him have a good spring breeze in February, it is better to cut weeping willows".