China's paper-cut culture ~! (urgent)

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), some people made decorations with gold foil, silver foil, leather or silk. 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 Emperor Wu's favorite princess Li, the emperor missed him very much 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, sticking the engraved gold and silver foil on the back of lacquer or bronze mirror, filling it with pigment and drying it to show golden patterns on the lacquer surface.

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: "Carve gold to capture customs and cut the ribbon to invigorate the people." 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 poem 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 a temporary reputation. " That is, "Kaifeng" mansion, and "pattern 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 named Dai Sheng Bird because it has a golden crest on its head, which looks like an autumn branch. 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, such as 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 fragrance is exquisite and eye-catching, and it is treasured by those who get it.

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.

The expression method of paper-cutting

There are many ways to express paper-cutting, which are mainly summarized as monochrome and color. Monochrome paper-cutting is divided into:

1, positive paper-cut, usually monochrome paper-cut works cut with red paper and black paper or other colors. The characteristic of orthographic paper-cutting is to keep the outline of the manuscript and cut off the blank parts outside the outline. Every thread of it is interrelated, which affects the whole body.

2. Yin Ke paper-cut. The characteristics of Yin Ke's paper-cut are just the opposite to those of Yang Ke's paper-cut. The outline of the manuscript is immediately drawn, and the parts other than the outline are kept. Therefore, the characteristic of gravure paper-cutting is that its lines are not necessarily interrelated, but the whole work is massive.

Paper-cut school

Yuxian Paper-cutting, Fengning Manchu Paper-cutting, Zhongyang Paper-cutting, Yiwulu Mountain Manchu Paper-cutting, Yangzhou Paper-cutting, Yueqing Fine Line Paper-cutting, Guangdong Paper-cutting, Dai Paper-cutting, Ansai Paper-cutting, Magnetic Paper-cutting.

Paper-cut Yuxian paper-cut

Yuxian county, Hebei province

Yuxian, located in the northwest of Hebei Province, is famous for paper cutting. Yuxian paper-cutting, also known as "window grilles", is a traditional decorative art of local people with a history of more than 200 years. The original patterns are mostly auspicious patterns such as flowers, and then they are integrated into the artistic characteristics of Tianjin Yangliuqing New Year Pictures and Wuqiang New Year Pictures, forming their own unique style. Through the research of Liu Laobu and other paper-cutting artists, the creative tools have been reformed, and the carving knives of some patterns have been changed from single cutting to batch carving knives, which has improved the paper-cutting technology in Yuxian County. At the beginning of the 20th century, under the impetus of artists such as Wang Laoshang, Wang Shouye and Zhou Yongming, the style of Yuxian paper-cutting became more and more prominent, which broke away from the general pattern of folk paper-cutting and had a deeper humanistic connotation.

Yuxian paper-cut is a product of civil society and a portrayal of people's life. It has a wide range of themes and diverse patterns, including opera figures, opera masks, myths and legends, flowers, birds, fish and insects, poultry and livestock, auspicious birds and animals and so on. The knife workers of Yuxian paper-cut not only have the rough and simple characteristics of northern folk paper-cut, but also have the exquisite and beautiful style of southern paper-cut. It has rich colors, strong contrast, strong sense of decoration, strong folk flavor, full of charm and rhythm, showing charming, simple and gorgeous artistic charm, and is deeply favored by the world.

In a wide range of folk paper-cutting art circles, Yuxian paper-cutting is unique in its artistic style of full composition, vivid modeling, gorgeous colors and peculiar craftsmanship. It is mainly based on negative engraving, supplemented by positive engraving, combined with yin and yang, and then painted with multi-color dot dyeing, achieving the effect of artistic expression and appealing to both refined and popular tastes.

Paper-cut Fengning Manchu paper-cut

Fengning Manchu Autonomous County, Hebei Province

Fengning Manchu Autonomous County is located in Saibei, Hebei Province. The spread of Fengning Manchu paper-cut among the people began in the Kangxi period of the Qing Dynasty, and formed a new and different style with regional and national characteristics in the Qianlong period. It is mainly carved in Yang, supplemented by carved in Yin, with long hair and fine cutting. At the end of the Qing Dynasty and the beginning of the Republic of China, Fengning Manchu paper-cutting entered its heyday. After 1949, it further developed in form and content, which was closer to real production and life. After 1960, the artistic creation of paper-cutting fell into a trough. 1982, Fengning Folk Paper-cutting Team was re-established, and its works have had a wide influence at home and abroad, and have been exhibited and performed abroad for many times. 1993, Fengning was named "the hometown of folk paper-cutting art in China" by the Ministry of Culture.

Fengning Manchu paper-cutting can be divided into auspicious paper-cutting, flower-and-bird paper-cutting, landscape paper-cutting, figures, pots and pans, fruits, animals, flower-shaped paper-cutting and so on. From the form of expression, including monochrome paper-cutting (red, white, black and so on. ), stippling paper-cutting, color-filling paper-cutting, multi-color combination paper-cutting and other varieties. According to specific purposes, it can be divided into window grilles, hanging signs for ancestor worship, sweeping the sky on cloudy days, seasonal paper-cutting, fireworks (festive paper-cutting for weddings, plain paper-cutting for funerals) and so on. ), ceiling flowers for daily interior decoration, fighting wind flowers, paper-cutting around Conway, etc. Among many folk paper-cuts in China, Fengning Manchu paper-cuts occupy a place with its unique artistic charm.

At present, most of the traditional paper-cutting skills of Fengning Manchu are still in the hands of the elderly over 70 years old, facing the danger of being lost and in urgent need of rescue and protection.

Paper-cut central paper-cut

Zhongyang County, Shanxi Province

Zhongyang county, Shanxi province is located in Luliang area of loess plateau in the middle reaches of the Yellow River. The folk culture in this area is extremely profound, which preserves many original ecological humanistic environments, thus forming the ancient folk cultural connotation and artistic form of Zhongyang paper-cutting.

Zhongyang paper-cut is mainly distributed in Nanchuan River Basin, Liu Jiaping area and the remote mountainous area of Xishan in Zhongyang County. The folk paper-cutting style in Nanchuan Valley is exquisite, simple and elegant, which occupies the mainstream position in Zhongyang paper-cutting. Liu Jiaping's paper-cut style is simple and vigorous, and the paper-cut style in remote areas of Xishan Mountain is rough and bold, which coexists with the mainstream style of paper-cut in Nanchuan Valley, enriching the characteristics of Zhongyang paper-cut.

Zhongyang paper-cutting is closely related to local traditional folk culture, and its main contents are local folk beliefs, seasons, life etiquette and myths and legends in Zhongyang, including decorative patterns with fish, frogs, snakes and rabbits as themes, folk paper-cutting with seasons and life etiquette as themes, and paper-cutting works with folk myths as themes. Zhongyang paper-cut mostly uses red paper, which reflects the festive and warm folk atmosphere. Sometimes, according to custom, products are cut with purple, black, yellow, green and blue paper. The main authors of Zhongyang paper-cut are working women in Zhongyang rural areas. Paper-cutting is an important part of their daily life and a concentrated expression of their aesthetic taste and wisdom. Zhongyang paper-cut is rich in Shan Ye local flavor and simple aesthetic feeling of primitive art, which vividly records the ideals and pursuits of working women. His skill inheritance is generally spontaneous, and some of it is passed down in a family way. At present, the main inheritors are Wang Jiru, Gao Baoxiang, Liu Yulian, Wang Zhongwen and Ma Cuilian, all of whom are over 60 years old. Once these old people leave, Zhongyang paper-cutting will face the situation of no successor and eventually die out. Therefore, measures should be taken to rescue it as soon as possible.

Paper-cut Yiwulu Mountain Manchu Paper-cut

Jinzhou City, Liaoning Province

The Manchu folk paper-cutting art in Yiwulu Mountain area is mainly manifested in the primitive worship of natural gods, ancestral gods, reproduction and Manchu customs. In the primitive worship activities of Manchu people in Yiwulu Mountain area, totem images are often shaped, or the images of gods are cut and carved with bark and animal skins, or carved with wood, and so on. After years of development, this ritual sculpture activity has become a kind of paper-cutting art, which not only retains the humanistic characteristics of Manchus in Northeast China, but also has a unique artistic form and rich Shaman cultural connotation, and is an important historical material for studying the integration of national cultures.

The Manchu folk paper-cut in Yiwulu Mountain is not only rich in content, but also simple in shape and pattern. There is no need for complicated and meticulous cutting, and there is no need for exquisite and accurate modeling. But mainly win with broad tolerance and simple charm.

For hundreds of years, this Manchu folk paper-cutting art has spread from generation to generation in Beining City, Linghai City, Fuxin City, Yixian County and other places in Yiwulu Mountain area. In many cities and rural areas, many women took part in paper-cutting activities, resulting in many highly skilled and fruitful artists, forming a pedigree handed down from generation to generation. At present, there are still more than ten genealogies such as Hou Guizhi, Huang and Wang Xiuxia. With the gradual death of the older generation of artists, there will be no successors, and they may decline at any time under the impact of modern lifestyles. Therefore, it is necessary to make a plan to protect this ancient national folk art.

Paper-cut Yangzhou paper-cut

Yangzhou City, Jiangsu Province

Yangzhou is one of the earliest areas where paper-cutting was popular in China, and there was a custom of "paper-cutting to welcome the spring" in the Tang and Song Dynasties. On that day in beginning of spring, Yangzhou people cut paper into flowers and made them into patterns such as spring butterfly, spring thread and spring victory. "Hanging on top of a beautiful woman or under a flower" is also a pleasure to watch. In addition, paper money, paper horses, etc. It's also for the memorial ceremony. In the Qing Dynasty, Yangzhou's commerce flourished, and the number of paper-cut artists also increased greatly. During Jiaqing and Daoguang years, famous paper-cutting artists were Bao Jun and so on. This person is highly skilled and has the reputation of "God scissors". Paper-cut artists in Yangzhou also create embroidery patterns according to their needs, from curtains and bedding pillowcases to mirror sachets and handkerchief pencil cases. If there is embroidery, there must be patterns. Yangzhou people call paper-cut artists "paper-cut people".

Yangzhou paper-cut lines are exquisite and smooth, the composition is exquisite and elegant, the image is exaggerated and concise, and the techniques are innovative, forming a unique "paper-cut feeling" and artistic charm. It is one of the representatives of folk paper-cut art in southern China. Its paper is mainly made by hand in Anhui, with moderate thickness, colorless dyeing and smooth texture.

The main inheritors of modern Yangzhou paper-cutting are Zhang Jinsheng (stage name "Lao Zhang Ma Sanzi") and Zhang Yongshou (stage name "Xiao Zhang Ma Sanzi"). Zhang Yongshou has been engaged in art for more than 70 years, and his paper-cutting has changed from practical patterns to decorative theme creation. His works show realistic, changeable, generalized and exaggerated style characteristics, and sum up the paper-cutting points such as "round as autumn moon, sharp as wheat awn, square as blue brick, jagged as sawtooth, and line as beard", which left valuable "creation classics" for later paper-cutting artists. Zhang Yongshou created thousands of works in his life, among which "A Hundred Flowers Bloom", "A Hundred Chrysanthemums Picture" and "A Hundred Butterflies Love Flower Picture" are of great artistic value and are called "Observation Works in Paper-cutting Art". 1989, Mr Zhang Yongshou passed away. Although his third-generation inheritors have made certain artistic achievements, their skills and aura cannot surpass those of the previous generation. Today, the trend that Yangzhou paper-cutting skills have no successors has become more and more obvious. This ancient folk art is in an endangered state and needs urgent protection and support.