What is the current status of the art of paper-cutting in China?

Paper-cuts

Paper-cutting is one of the most popular folk arts in China, dating back to the sixth century A.D. according to archaeology, but it is thought to have actually begun hundreds of years earlier. Paper cutting is often used for religious ceremonies, decoration and plastic arts.

In the past, paper was often used to make images of objects and people in various shapes and sizes, and was burned with the dead at burials or funerals, a custom that is still sometimes seen outside of China. The art of paper-cutting generally has a symbolic meaning and is part of this ritual. In addition, paper cuttings are also used as decorations for offerings to ancestors and gods.

About because of its easy access to materials, low cost, the effect of immediate, adaptable and generally popular; more because it is the most suitable for rural women's leisure production, can be used as a practical object, but also to beautify the life. Paper-cutting can be seen all over the country, and even formed different local styles and schools. Paper cutting not only expresses the aesthetic preferences of the masses, and contains the deep psychology of the national community, but also one of China's most distinctive folk art, its modeling characteristics are particularly worth studying.

Nowadays, paper cutting is more often used for decoration. Paper-cutting can be used to decorate walls, doors, windows, pillars, mirrors, lamps and lanterns, etc., but also for gifts for decoration, and even paper-cutting itself can be used as a gift to others. People used to cut paper as embroidery and spray paint art model.

Paper cutting is not made by hand but by machine, and there are two common methods: scissors cutting and knife cutting. As the name suggests, scissors cutting is with the help of scissors, after cutting and then several (usually no more than 8) paper cuts pasted together, and then finally with sharp scissors on the pattern processing. Knife cutting involves folding the paper into several stacks, placing it on a fluffy mixture of ash and animal fat, and then slowly carving it with a knife. The paper cutter usually holds the knife vertically and works the paper into the desired pattern according to a certain model. One of the advantages of knife cutting over scissors is that more than one paper-cutting pattern can be processed at a time.

In rural areas, paper cutting is usually done by women and girls. In the past, it was an art of craftsmanship that every girl had to master, and it was also a standard by which brides were judged. Professional paper-cutters were often men, as only men could work together in the workshops and earn money.

History

It is believed that since the Shang Dynasty (1600-1100 B.C.E.), people have been making decorations out of gold and silver foils, leather or silk fabrics, and during excavations at the Warring States site of Gouwei Village, Huixian County, Henan Province, in 1950-1952, curved decorations made out of silver foils were found. These decorations made of silver foil hollowing, although it can not be said to be paper-cutting, but in the carving technology and artistic style, can be said to have formed the predecessor of the art of paper-cutting.

In the Western Han Dynasty, people used hemp fiber to make paper, and legend has it that after the death of Emperor Wu's favorite consort Li, the emperor missed it so much that he couldn't rest or sleep, and couldn't eat, so he asked the magician to use the hemp paper to cut the image of Li's consort to beckon for him, and this is probably the earliest paper-cutting. In 105 AD, Cai Lun to improve and promote the experience of the previous began a large number of papermaking, this form of openwork found easier to popularize the material and thus gave birth to the art of paper-cutting, which has a history of more than two thousand years. Paper cut into beautiful patterns and patterns, the earliest found and documented is near the Xinjiang Turpan Flaming Mountain, has unearthed five North and South Dynasties group of flowers cut paper: the horse group of flowers; the monkey group of flowers; honeysuckle group of flowers; chrysanthemum group of flowers; eight with the shape of the group of flowers.

The Tang Dynasty has applied paper-cutting patterns to other crafts. From the Han to the Tang Dynasty appeared a gold and silver inlay technology process, is the engraving of gold and silver foil pasted on the back of lacquer or bronze mirror, by filling the lacquer grinding dry, in the lacquer ground shows a brilliant pattern of gold.

Tang and Song dynasties, the popularity of "skeletonization of gold for victory" custom. "Sheng", that is, with paper or gold and silver foil, silk and silk cut into patterns, cut into sets of square geometric shape, known as the "Fang Sheng"; cut into the shape of flowers and grasses, known as the "Huasheng", cut into the shape of a human being The pattern is called "Human Sheng" when it is cut into the shape of a human being. Liang Zong懔 in the Southern Dynasties, "Jing Chu chronicles" recorded: "the seventh day of the first month for the people day, (" Dongfang Shuo biography - the year festival ": the beginning of heaven and earth, one day chickens, the second day of the dog, the third day of the pig, the fourth day of the goat, the fifth day of the cow, the sixth day of the horse, the seventh day of the people, the eighth day of the valley. The sunny day is full of the things that are in charge of it, and the cloudy day is a disaster. (Eight days, especially people day is important, also known as the "people win festival") to seven kinds of vegetables for the soup; cut color for the people, or skeleton gold foil for the people to paste the screen, but also wear in the head sideburns; and create Huasheng to phase legacy."

Du Fu, a great poet of the Tang Dynasty, composed a poem under the title of "People's Day": "This day, this time people **** get, a talk and a smile commonplace look at each other. The cypress leaves in front of your honor do not follow the wine, and the golden flowers in the victory are skillfully resistant to the cold." Another famous Tang Dynasty poet Li Shangyin also made a "people day" poem, the poem says: "Skeleton gold for winning Jing custom, cut color for people up Jin style." In the 1960s in Xinjiang, unearthed artifacts, there is a Tang Dynasty people win paper cuts, seven women in human form arranged in rows, this win used to decorate the hair bun.

In Japan, the main warehouse hospital, there are two Tang Dynasty Huasheng, according to the Japanese Qiheng three years (AD 856 years), "miscellaneous property factual records": "people win two ...... Tianping Baoji yuan year leap August 24 offerings," the Japanese Tianping Baoji yuan year, namely The first year of the Japanese Tenpyo Boseon is the second year of the Tang Dynasty's Jide (757 A.D.). One of them is inscribed in gold foil with the following words cut into it: "A good day for the festival, a blessing for the new year, a million years of peace and a thousand years of life." The other has an intricate border carved in gold leaf and decorated with red and green roses and leaves, and in the center is a child playing with a dog under a bamboo grove.

At that time, it was also popular to make small streamers cut out of double silk, called spring streamers, or streamers of victory, or spring victory, on the day of spring, as a holiday gift, or pinned on the head, or hung on willow branches, or attached to the screen. In the poem handed down by Cui Daorong, there is this line: "I want to cut Yichun characters, but spring is cold and people have scissors", and the "Yichun posts" mentioned here are also the "paper-cutting works of art" familiar to people nowadays. The "Yichun post" referred to here is also the "paper-cutting artwork" familiar to people nowadays. Li Shangyin wrote in his poem "Jiao Er Poetry": "Please master the book of spring victory, spring victory, spring day." This means that Jiao Er Gun Shi asked his father to write the word "spring" on the spring streamers made of color cuttings. Because the day of spring for the first day of spring, a symbol of the recovery of all things thriving, so the Tang and Song dynasties, people cut the color of this folkloric activities gradually focused on the day of spring, people cut all kinds of streamers, spring streamers, spring swallows, spring butterflies, etc., as a holiday gift. The emperor also received his ministers on this day, and gave them gold and silver streamers or rowan winners. Duan Cheng style "Youyang Miscellanea" said: "spring day, the scholar's home, cut paper for small coiled, or hanging in the head of the beauty, or decorated with flowers, and cut for spring butterflies, spring victory to play.

Song Dynasty on the paper-cutting records are many. In the Southern Song Dynasty, there has been a paper-cutting as a career artists, some good cut "all the book word", some specializing in cutting "all the colors of the pattern". Some of the paper-cutting as a gift embellishment, some pasted on the window, some decorative lights, and some cut into the so-called "dragon and tiger" and so on. At this time, the prevalence of shadow, carved shadow material, in addition to animal skin, but also made of thick paper. Zhou Mi "Zhi Ya Tang Miscellaneous Notes": the capital Peiliang "to the old Tiantu Street, there are cut all colors of the pattern, very subtle, as desired and become. And in the tile there are Yu Jingzhi, each cut all the calligraphy are specialized. Later, suddenly a teenager can cut words and flowers in the sleeve and so on. More than two people, so the reputation of the moment." That is, "Kaifeng" House, "cut pattern" refers to the natural "paper cutting".

Song Dynasty female lyricist Li Qingzhao in a "Bodhisattva barbarians" wrote: "Candle under the phoenix hairpin bright, hairpin head people win light." There is a bird, because the head collar has a big golden yellow feather crown is very much like inserting a branch of the streamer wins, and was named Dai Sheng bird, Wei Yingwu "listening to the warbler song" in "Burao flew over the sound of the Bureau, Dai Sheng under the Mulberry green," Sheng has become a symbol of the return of spring to the earth.

Chen Yuanliang of the Song Dynasty, "the time of the year", "New Year's Day to crow green paper or green silk cut forty-nine streamers, surrounded by a large streamer, or the age of the parents to carry it, or posted in the door Mei.

An important creation of the Song Dynasty paper cutouts for craft decoration is the porcelain of the Jizhou kilns, products such as tealights and vases, etc., there are many pattern subjects, there are phoenix, plum blossom, loquat and auspicious words, etc., the shape is vivid, lively, it is the author of the glaze process, pasted on the paper cutouts, into the kiln to fire and become.

Modern folk blue printed cloth, is to use the skeletonized cardboard scraping paste after imitation dyeing and presenting patterns, this printing and dyeing process has been very common in the Song Dynasty, Shanxi Province, unearthed in the Southern Song Dynasty printed cloth is an example.

Ming and Qing people's notes and local histories also have records of famous paper cutters. For example, "Suzhou Province," said: "Zhao Calyx, Jiajing in the production of clip gauze lamps to material paper carved into the shape of flowers, bamboo and birds, with the light and thick halo color. Dissolving wax coating and dyeing, with a light image clip. Reflecting the sun is bright and clear, Fen Fei Xiang dance, indistinct in the light smoke, and the real one can not be identified." The Ming Dynasty is very famous for its paper clip lanterns. It is the paper clip in the yarn. Candlelight reflects the pattern, which is another application of paper-cutting in daily life, and now people call it "horse lantern".

"Yanzhou Jiande County Records": "Lin Wenyao, the word outline of the Zhai, young that is, work book, blindness in middle age, is paper-cutting for the word, the potential to fly as if the dragon and snake, point and paint is not worse than the hair. Room decorated into a shaft, ...... people called the day "Lin shear." Baoding Fu Zhi: "famous female, Zhang Cai Gong's daughter. There are ingenuity, and people talk, the sleeves of the fine cut spring flowers, autumn chrysanthemums, fine grass and poplar. Not into the God; its shear trousseau, absolutely exquisite eye-catching, the person who got it treasured.

The Qing dynasty Chen Yunbo "painting new" said: "cut painting, the Southern Song Dynasty, someone can cut the word in the sleeve, and the ancient masterpieces are no different. In recent years, Yangzhou Baojun most work this, especially the landscape, figures, birds and flowers, grass and insects, all into the wonderful." And there is a poem that says: "cut painting clever than cut book, fly flowers and birds swim endangered fish; any other February spring breeze is good, cut out the poplar fear as well." Qing Kangxi, a court painter Zou Yuandou, painted a blessing at the beginning of the New Year's customary paintings, "the year of the axle" painted on the upper end of the hanging five colorful paper-cut "door cage". The form of the door paper is evolved from the spring streamers.

In the Qing Dynasty, because the Manchu people have the custom of paper-cutting, resulting in paper-cutting into the court. In the Forbidden City, successive emperors held weddings for the cave of the Shen Ning Palace, the walls according to the Manchu custom of laminating paper, the corners of the black double happiness word pasted paper cut flowers, the roof of the center of the pasted dragons and phoenixes group of flowers of the black paper cuts; in the aisle walls on both sides of the palace is also affixed to the corner of the flowers. It is said that some people use paper cut into a deer, cranes, pines, "six spring" pattern, to be painted, pasted on the court dress, even the Empress Dowager thought it was embroidered.

It can be said that since the birth of the art of paper-cutting, there has been no interruption. Her circulation of a wide range of surfaces, the number of large, many styles, the depth of the foundation than any kind of art are more prominent. In a variety of folk activities, she is everywhere, everywhere, attached to the beautiful in life, enriching the life, in her unique way to quietly evoke the pursuit of life, the belief in life, the country's wealth and prosperity of the people's aspirations; she will be the people's ordinary life embellished with such a magnificent and colorful, and fully support and embodies the pursuit of the Chinese people on the true goodness and beauty of the pursuit of the aspirations of the Chinese nation; she meets the people of the spirit of a higher level of social needs And thrive.

Nowadays, the world of paper-cutting is much broader, it has long been out of the small courtyard of the people of the village, into the vast world of modern design, in product packaging design, trademark advertising, interior decoration, costume design, book binding, stamp design, newspaper and magazine title flower, comic strips, stage art, animation, film and television and so on all aspects of her shadow; she is also going to the world, known all over the world, and has become the cultural wealth and artistic treasures of all mankind. She is also famous all over the world and has become the cultural wealth and artistic treasure of all mankind. With the process of history, many national and traditional things have been gradually diluted and annihilated. However, the sign of true civilization should be the coexistence of traditional and modern culture, **** the same development. May this ancient tree of art be evergreen and ever new.

Paper-cutting methods of expression

Paper-cutting methods of expression are many, here focus on monochrome and color two kinds of monochrome paper-cutting and divided into:

1, Yang carved paper-cutting, usually using red paper, black paper, or other colors of the material cut out of monochrome paper-cutting works. Yang carved paper cutting is characterized by the retention of the original outline line, cut off the outline line outside the blank part. Each of its lines are interconnected, pulling a hair will move the whole body.

2, yin carving paper cutting, yin carving paper cutting is characterized by the opposite of yang carving paper cutting, that is, carving away the outline of the original draft, to retain the part of the outline of the line outside. So the characteristics of yin-carved paper-cutting is that its lines are not necessarily interconnected, and the overall work is blocky.