Where was the earliest paper-cutting art in China discovered?

Paper-cutting is one of the most popular folk arts in China. According to archaeology, its history can be traced back to the 6th century, but people think it actually started hundreds of years earlier. Paper-cutting is often used in religious ceremonies, decoration and plastic arts. In the past, people used paper to make objects and portraits of different shapes, and then buried them with the dead or burned them at funerals. This custom can still be seen outside China. Paper-cutting art is generally symbolic and is part of this ceremony; In addition, paper-cutting is also used as an ornament to worship ancestors and immortals. Because of its easily available materials, low cost, obvious effect and wide adaptability, it is widely welcomed. Because it is most suitable for rural women's leisure production, it can be used as a practical object and beautify their lives. Paper-cutting can be seen all over the country, and even formed different local styles. Paper-cutting not only shows the aesthetic taste of the public, but also contains the deep social psychology of the nation. It is also one of the most distinctive folk arts in China, and its modeling features are particularly worth studying. Nowadays, paper-cutting is more used for decoration. Paper-cutting can be used to decorate walls, doors and windows, columns, mirrors, lamps and so on. It can also be used as a gift decoration, and even the paper-cut itself can be given as a gift to others. In the past, people used paper-cutting as a model for embroidery and painting. Paper-cutting is not made by machine, but by hand. The common methods are scissors and knife scissors. As the name implies, scissors are scissors. After cutting, paste a few (usually no more than 8) paper-cuts, and finally process the pattern with sharp scissors. Knife scissors first fold the paper into several folds, put it on the soft mixture of ashes and animal fat, and then slowly carve it with a knife. Paper-cutting artists usually hold a knife vertically and process the paper into the desired pattern according to a certain model. Compared with scissors, one advantage of knife scissors is that they can be processed into various paper-cut patterns at one time. In rural areas, paper-cutting is usually done by women and girls. In the past, this was a handicraft art that every girl had to master, and it was also a standard for people to judge brides. Professional paper-cutting artists are often men, because only men can work together in the workshop and earn money together. History: According to research, from the Shang Dynasty (BC1600-100), people carved flowers with gold foil, silver foil, leather or silk as decorations. 1950- 1952 During the excavation of the Warring States site in Guwei Village, Huixian County, Henan Province, arc ornaments carved with silver foil were found. Although these decorations hollowed out with silver foil can't be said to be paper-cut, they can be said to have formed the predecessor of paper-cut art in carving technology and artistic style. In the Western Han Dynasty, people used hemp fiber to make paper. It is said that after the death of Li, the favorite princess of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, the emperor missed him and couldn't sleep well, so he asked the warlock to use the image cut out of hemp paper to evoke the soul. This is probably the earliest paper-cutting. In A.D. 105, Cai Lun improved and popularized the previous experience and began to make a lot of paper. This engraving form has found more popular materials and gave birth to paper-cutting art, which has a history of more than 2000 years. The paper was cut into beautiful patterns. At present, the earliest and well-documented paper-cuts of group flowers in the Southern and Northern Dynasties were unearthed near the Flame Mountain in Turpan, Xinjiang: Ma Tuan Tuan Hua; Yes, monkey flowers; Honeysuckle; Chrysanthemum; Eight flowers. Paper-cut patterns have been applied to other handicrafts in the Tang Dynasty. From the Han Dynasty to the Tang Dynasty, a kind of gold and silver inlay technology appeared, that is, the engraved gold and silver foil was stuck on the back of the lacquer ware or bronze mirror, and then the paint was poured and dried to show the golden pattern on the lacquer ware floor. During the Tang and Song Dynasties, the custom of "carving gold to win" was popular. "Victory" is a pattern cut from paper, gold and silver foil, silk and silk, and a set of square geometric shapes is called "Fang Sheng"; Those who cut into flowers and plants are called "Watson", and those who cut into human form are called "people win". In the Chronicle of Jingchu in the Southern Dynasties, Liang Zonggu recorded: "The seventh day of the first month is one day, and the Chronicle of Dong Fangshuo"): At the beginning of heaven and earth, there were chickens, dogs, pigs, sheep, cows, horses, people and valleys. Sunny days are dominated by abundance, while cloudy days are disastrous. Among the eight days, People's Day is the most important, also known as "People's Victory Day". Cut the ribbon for people, or carve gold foil for people, paste the screen, and wear it on the head and temples; He also created Watson to inherit from each other. " Du Fu, a great poet in the Tang Dynasty, wrote a poem entitled "Men's Day": "On this day, at this time, people are excited, talking and smiling at each other. Worship cypress leaves before, rest with wine, and get golden flowers in the cold. " Li Shangyin, another famous poet in the Tang Dynasty, also wrote a poem "People's Day", which said: "Carving gold is popular, and cutting the ribbon is popular." Among the cultural relics unearthed in Xinjiang in the 1960s, there is also a paper-cut of Rensheng in the Tang Dynasty, in which seven women lined up to decorate the bun with this victory. In Masakura Hospital in Japan, there are two pieces of Watson from the Tang Dynasty. According to the Records of Miscellaneous Production in the third year of Japan's Qi Heng (AD 856), "People win two pieces ... Tianpingbao is given on August 24th", and the year of Tianpingbao in Japan is the second year of Tang Zhide (AD 757). One of them is Roddy's gold foil, which is engraved with the words "Happy New Year's Day, Happy New Year's Day, Long live He Man for a thousand years", and the other is carved with gold foil and decorated with red, green and Luo flowers and leaves. In the center, a child and a dog are playing under the bamboo forest. At that time, there was a popular small banner cut with double silks and silks, called Chunban, or Zunsheng and Chunsheng, which was used as a holiday gift on the day of spring, or worn on the head, hung on the willow branches, or pasted on the screen. In the poems left by Cui Daorong, there is such a sentence: "If you want to cut Yichun, people will cut spring." The "Yichun Post" mentioned here is also called "paper-cut artwork". Li Shangyin wrote in "Pride Poetry": "Please write it in spring, and spring will win Yichun Day." The arrogant teacher asked his father to write the word "Yichun" on the Spring Festival couplets made by cutting the ribbon. Because beginning of spring Day is the first day of spring, symbolizing the revival and prosperity of all things, in the Tang and Song Dynasties, the folk custom of ribbon-cutting for People's Day gradually concentrated on beginning of spring Day, and people cut out various gongs, banners, Chun Yan and butterflies as holiday gifts. On this day, the emperor also received his ministers and gave them gold and silver or Luo respectively. Duan's Youyang Miscellaneous Notes said: "On the day of beginning of spring, the home of literati, paper-cutting is a kind of Xiaoping, which is hung on the head of a beautiful woman or decorated under a flower, and cut into a spring butterfly, which wins the drama with spring. There are many records about paper-cutting in Song Dynasty. During the Southern Song Dynasty, there were artists who took paper-cutting as their profession. Some of them are good at cutting "all kinds of calligraphy characters", while others specialize in cutting "all kinds of colors and patterns" Some paper-cuts are decorated as gifts, some are pasted on windows, some are decorated with lanterns, and some are cut into so-called "dragons and tigers". At this time, shadow play was popular, and the materials for carving shadow play were not only animal skins, but also thick paper. Zhou Mi's "Zhi Ya Tang Miscellaneous Notes" contains: Pei Liang, the capital at that time, "In the old Tiandu Street, there were people who cut various colors, which were extremely exquisite and made at will. There is more respect in the tile, which is dedicated to cutting letters from home. Then, suddenly, some teenagers can cut words and flowers on their sleeves. I am more proficient in two people, so I am good at temporary fame. That is "Kaifeng" mansion, and "paper-cutting" naturally refers to "paper-cutting". Li Qingzhao, a poetess in the Song Dynasty, wrote in the poem "Bodhisattva Man": "The candle is bright at the bottom, and the hairpin phoenix wins the lamp. "There is a kind of bird, because there is a golden crest on its head, which looks like an autumn branch, so it is named Dai Sheng Bird. In Wei's Listening to Yingge, "shrike flies by, mulberry garden is green when it is born", and Sheng is a symbol of spring returning to the earth. In Song Dynasty, Chen's Record of Years Old said: "On New Year's Day, 49 banners were cut with crow's green paper or green silk, surrounded by a big banner, or carried by parents according to their age, or posted on the door. Paper-cutting in Song Dynasty is an important creation of craft decoration. It's porcelain from Jizhou kiln. Its products include teacups and vases. There are many patterns and themes, including phoenix, plum blossom, loquat and auspicious words. It's lively. It is made by the author in the process of glaze, paper-cutting and firing in the kiln. Modern folk blue printed cloth is made of carved cardboard, then imitated and dyed. This printing and dyeing technology has been very common in the Song Dynasty, and the printed cloth of the Southern Song Dynasty unearthed in Shanxi is an example. Famous paper-cut artists are also recorded in Ming and Qing notes and local chronicles. For example, "Suzhou fuzhi" contains: "Zhao calyx was made of gauze lanterns during Jiajing period, and was carved into flowers, bamboos and birds from paper, with light and thick halo. Dissolve wax and dye, and clamp with thin gauze. The sun is shining, bright and bright, flying and dancing, and it is difficult to distinguish from real people in the light smoke. " The gauze lanterns in Ming Dynasty are very famous. It is a paper-cut sandwiched between yarns. Patterns reflected by candlelight are another application of paper-cutting in daily life. Now people call it "lantern". "Yanzhou Jiande County Records" contains: "Lin, the word outline Zhai, wrote books when he was young, and was blind in middle age. He is a paper-cut figure, flying dragons and snakes, and stippling is not bad. People decorate the room as a vertical shaft, ... called the day of "forest scissors". "Baoding Fuzhi" contains: "A woman is also the daughter of Zhang Caigong. Have a smart mind, talk to people, carefully cut open the sleeves of spring flowers, autumn flowers and fine grass, and lose your mind; Its cut incense (large+area) is absolutely ingenious and eye-catching, and the winner is the treasure. Chen Yunbo's Painting New Poems in the Qing Dynasty said: "In the Southern Song Dynasty, some people were able to cut characters with sleeves, which was no different from the fame of the ancients. In recent years, Yangzhou Baojun has done the most, especially landscapes, figures, flowers, birds and insects. " Moreover, there is a poem that says: "Cutting pictures is smarter than cutting books, and flying birds swim close to fish;" Let him have a good spring breeze in February, I'm afraid it's better to cut down the weeping willows. "During the Kangxi period of the Qing Dynasty, Zou Yuandou, a court painter, painted a genre painting" Axis of the New Year "to bless the beginning of the New Year. There are five colorful paper-cut "door cages" hanging above the painting. The form of doormat evolved from the spring flag. Paper-cutting entered the court in Qing Dynasty because Manchu had the custom of paper-cutting. In the Forbidden City, the Shen Ning Palace, where emperors held weddings as their bridal chamber, was pasted according to Manchu customs, with black paper-cut flowers with double happiness written in the four corners and dragons and phoenixes written in the center of the ceiling; Horned flowers are also pasted on the aisle walls on both sides of the palace. It is said that some people cut the paper into a "six-in-one spring" pattern with deer, cranes and pines, painted it with pigment, and stuck it on the royal dress, which even the empress dowager in the west thought was embroidery. It can be said that the art of paper-cutting has never stopped since its birth. Her popularity, quantity, style and depth are more outstanding than any art. In all kinds of folk activities, she is everywhere, attached to life, enriching life, silently arousing people's pursuit of life, belief in life and hope for the prosperity of the country in her unique way; She embellishes people's ordinary life so richly and richly, and fully entrusts and embodies our Chinese nation's pursuit and yearning for truth, goodness and beauty; She thrives to meet people's higher social and spiritual needs. Nowadays, the world of paper-cutting is wider. It has walked out of the farmhouse and entered the vast world of modern design. In product packaging design, trademark advertising, interior decoration, clothing design, book binding, stamp design, newspaper inscription, comics, stage art, animation, film and television and other aspects have a clear image. She also went to the world and became famous all over the world, becoming the cultural wealth and artistic treasure of all mankind. With the progress of history, many ethnic and traditional things have been gradually diluted and lost. However, the symbol of true civilization should be the coexistence and common development of traditional culture and modern culture. May this ancient art tree be evergreen.

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