The historical origin of Helen’s paper-cutting

In 1993, Helen was named the "Hometown of Chinese Folk Art - Paper-cutting" by the Ministry of Culture. Hailun City, located at the foot of Xiaoxing'an Mountains, was originally the hunting ground of the emperor in the early Qing Dynasty. With the development of history, settlers from Han, Mongolian, Hui, Korean and other ethnic groups gathered here. They brought the rich and colorful paper-cutting, embroidery and other arts and crafts from northern my country. They learned from each other and merged with the Manchu and Oroqen people's cloud-popping and mahua-printing techniques, gradually forming the art of paper-cutting.

Before and after the establishment of Hailun in 1899, the art of paper-cutting was widely spread among the people. It mainly used lamp smoke and scissors to cut simple patterns of flowers, birds, animals, and people to make hanging money, window grilles, etc. The intersection of local ethnic minorities and Han immigrants initially formed the rough and bold northern paper-cutting art style. Flowers, plants, insects, fish, birds and animals, etc., have simple and concise shapes, rough and powerful blades, and have the characteristics of freehand brushwork. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, the themes expressed in Hailun's paper-cuttings developed again. In particular, "Ode to the Motherland", which was created on the eve of the 10th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China, broke through the monotonous content of paper-cutting, expanded the subject matter, increased the level of expression, and issued decorations, which vividly reflected the love of the people of all ethnic groups in the country for the great leader Chairman Mao. Deep feelings of loving the party and loving the motherland. This work has been published in "People's Daily", "People's Pictorial" and "National Pictorial", and participated in the Chinese Modern Art Exhibition and International Expo. It has also been exhibited many times in the Soviet Union, Japan, France, New Zealand and other countries. This treasure is now collected in the Heilongjiang Museum.

In the 1950s and 1960s, Helen's paper-cutting had a certain influence across the country. Fu Zuoren's paper-cut works are represented by his works, which have been published in provincial and national newspapers and periodicals for many times, exhibited nationally and provincially, and won awards. Among them, the paper-cut works have decorated the conference hall of the Great Hall of the People and were presented to the North Sea Fleet and Daqing Iron Man Wang Jinxi by Premier Zhou Enlai. During the Cultural Revolution, Helen's paper-cutting works came to a standstill. After the 1980s, Helen's paper-cutting has developed greatly and formed a unique paper-cutting art style. Diversity is reflected in the creative content of paper-cutting