The Cultural Background of Founder Paper-cutting

According to the latest archaeological findings, there are traces of human life in Fangzheng area during the Han and Wei Dynasties. Jurchen tribes lived there in Liao and Jin Dynasties. Jurchen relied on founder county's natural landforms to engage in hunting, gathering and farming. During the generations' reproduction, while gradually accumulating material wealth, they also created folk songs, ballads, stories, dances, children's books and other art forms with their own ingenuity, enriching their lives. According to historical records, they are the ancestors of Founder's material civilization and spiritual civilization. Farmers from Shandong, Hebei and Henan began to flow into Fangzheng area to reclaim wasteland in the Kangxi period of Qing Dynasty (1668- 1820). Their arrival brought Founder the farming techniques of the Central Plains and the cultural customs of China in the Yellow River valley. However, due to its remote location and inconvenient transportation, the economic and cultural development of Fangzheng area has been seriously restricted. 1909 Before the county was founded, Fangzheng area was still in a state of sparsely populated, mixed ethnic groups and low productivity. At the beginning of the county, there were only 237 households with a population of 1904.

According to the Archives of Jilin Province, "On the third day of March in the first year of Qing Dynasty (1909), Xu Shichang, the governor of three northeastern provinces, and Chen Shangshu, the governor of Jilin Province, petitioned the imperial court to move the old datong county of Jilin to Fangzhengpao, the south bank of Songhua River, and renamed it founder county as a new vacancy in Jilin Province."

From 1909 to 19 13, in just four years, a large number of Manchu immigrants from Datong County (later changed to Tonghe County) began to settle in Fangzheng, and "Baiqisi Tun" (later called Baiqitun in Songnan Township) and "Hongqi Tun" (later changed to Hongqi Village in Songnan Township) were built on the north bank of Fangzhengpao. In just four years, the population has soared from less than 2000 to 32 100. Manchu people believe in Shamanism, believe that everything is animistic, and regard heaven and earth, mountains, rivers and even animals and plants related to their lives as gods. Therefore, the polytheistic shaman culture in which Manchu people worship nature, totem and ancestors has become the mainstream culture in founder county and the original root of Founder culture. It has a subtle influence on the emergence and development of various cultures in the future. Under the social conditions of low productivity, paper-cutting created by Manchu people with paper, bark, plant leaves, animal skins, fish skins and other materials, with Shaman religious culture as its content, has become the most commonly used form of expression and the most popular skill in Shaman religious culture.

From the Republic of China to the eve of liberation, the people of the Central Plains suffered from Japanese aggression and civil war. In order to survive, a large number of Shanhaiguan immigrants came to the northeast to settle down. According to statistics, by 1949, the population of founder county had increased to 167 1 1, with a population of 72,778, about 40 times more than that of the county seat. Brave, hardworking and enterprising ancestors not only brought the agricultural, industrial and commercial skills of the Central Plains to founder county, but also introduced various artistic forms of the Han nationality for thousands of years to founder county, such as national musical instruments and folk arts, especially sister arts such as paper-cutting and shadow play, and settled in founder county. Paper-cutting, as a favorite skill of women, has quietly passed on and developed between mother and daughter, aunts and neighbors. On festive occasions, Founder women like to cut out various window patterns to decorate the atmosphere.