Wang Laoshang, a master of folk paper-cutting in Yuxian County, Hebei Province, and his paper-cutting works

Yuxian paper-cut is a traditional folk art with a unique style and enjoys a high reputation at home and abroad. The production technology of Yuxian paper-cut is unique among many paper-cuts in China. According to historical records, Yuxian paper-cutting began in Daoguang period of Qing Dynasty, with a history of 150 years. Yuxian paper-cut has a wide range of themes, profound implications and rich flavor of life.

Yuxian paper-cut is the only pointillism paper-cut in China, which is famous for its fine carving and rich colors. Yuxian paper-cut is commonly known as "window grilles" in the local area, mostly from farmers and artists, and passed down from generation to generation. Wang Laoshang is the founder of Yuxian paper-cut and the master of Yuxian yarn-dyed paper-cut. He loved the art of paper-cutting since he was a child and often went to his neighbor's house to see carved and dyed window grilles. He is so absorbed in this that he often forgets to go home for dinner. When he goes to the county fair, he always lingers in the window flower market, staring at it intently, and often lingers until the end of the market.

Because he learned to carve paper and color from childhood, he mastered the method of carving paper in his twenties. Wang Laoshang is a serious artist. When he carved the window grilles, he sat still and absorbed. When the knife was put down, he heard a sound. At first, he asked others to draw a paper-cut sample for himself, but they were not satisfied. So, he began to create his own. He sketched a draft with a delicious head, and he could use a knife instead of a pen to make changes while carving. The carved paper-cut is more delicate and delicious than the original design. So when his trick came out, it spread like wildfire. Today, many paper-cuts from the people have been copied by Wang Laoshang.

Wang Laoshang's paper-cut art has its own unique skills in composition, paper engraving and dyeing. Conciseness, fullness and interest are the remarkable features of Wang Laoshang's paper-cut works. Because Wang Laoshang lived in a prosperous era of opera, opera characters became the representative of Wang Laoshang's paper-cutting art, and he created nearly a thousand opera characters.

Wang Laoshang likes going to the theatre. Where there is a play, there is no shortage of him. He carefully pondered the faces, costumes, props, movements, expressions and colors of the people in the play, which became the artistic image under his carving knife.

His operas are rich in characters, and they depict characters dynamically without background, like the painted character Xiu Xiang, which is vivid and lifelike. Most flower patterns are based on a single flower and are full of colorful and vivid expressions. From his works, we can see the depth of literati, the bravery of military commanders, the lightness of girls, the evil of traitors and the incisiveness of various characters.

In addition, there are many paper-cut themes that show farmers' lives, animals and plants and small decorative windows. Knife work, he is good at playing the decorative role of male engraving, and Yin and Yang engraving are closely combined according to the needs of dyeing and decoration. He used a carving knife to outline the figure's posture and depict the texture of the clothing. The image is exquisite and beautiful, and the emotion is realistic.

Wang Laoshang's artistic attitude is rigorous and strives for perfection. When carving window grilles, you should sit still, concentrate and be meticulous. He took his modified window grilles to the market for sale, so that everyone could appreciate the comments, listen to the opinions of the masses and constantly revise and improve them.

On one occasion, he accidentally dyed Bai Yang's embroidered robe in "The Second Palace" purple. In the market, someone pointed to the window grilles and said, "Bai Yang is wearing a purple robe again!" Wang Laoshang immediately noticed that she was dyed the wrong color, so she couldn't help blushing. She cleaned up the stall without waiting for the distribution. After returning home, I burned Bai Yang's purple robe and carved it again to learn from it.

Wang Laoshang devoted his life to Yuxian paper-cutting creation, and became a leader among many paper-cutting artists by pursuing the art of paper-cutting. In his artistic career of more than 40 years, Wang Laoshang has integrated the cultural interests of farmers and the simple feelings of villagers into the paper-cut art of window grilles, and created more than 1000 paper-cut samples of figures and countless paper-cut samples of flowers, birds, fish and insects. The color of the window grilles he made is particularly bright, and the color matching has reached a miraculous level.

Some people say that we can't talk about Yuxian paper-cutting without mentioning Wang Laoshang, and we can't study Yuxian paper-cutting without studying Wang Laoshang. In a sense, Wang Laoshang style is Yuxian style.