The content and theme of Yu County paper-cut window grilles
The paper-cutting production technique in Yu County, Hebei Province is unique. It is the art of carving and dyeing rice paper with point colors. It is widely used in the folk life of local people, and the most representative one is "window flowers". With the changes of the times, some traditional paper-cut forms have disappeared, and some new products and forms that meet the needs of modern consumption have emerged.
Yuxian paper-cutting condenses the local history and culture and reflects the simple and innocent thoughts of the local people. It has a wide range of themes, some of which express things that people like to see and hear in real life, and some of which express peoples yearning for a better life. It is mainly divided into three categories according to content:
(1) Flowers, Birds, Insects and Fish
Flowers, birds, insects, and fish occupy a large part in Yuxian paper-cutting, and the content is very rich. It is simple and healthy, reflecting an aspect of peoples lives and an aspect of labor production, and is full of pastoral flavor. In addition to single animal and plant patterns, collocation and combination methods are often used to make these have some special representation. The combination of animals and plants with meaningful meanings expresses peoples wishes for blessing and auspiciousness, such as mandarin ducks, magpies, lotus, peonies, etc.
(2) Opera characters
People in Yuxian County love to watch operas, and they also express a large number of their favorite opera characters in paper-cutting. Yuxian opera paper-cutting has hundreds of repertoires, with thousands of characters, each with different shapes, vivid but not the same. They are often in sets, with four pieces in one chapter, and there are as many as two, three or four chapters, just like the opera. A certain number of scenes make up a play. Opera characters are the most popular and distinctive components of Yuxian paper-cutting.
(3) Opera facial makeup
Facial makeup was developed on the basis of paper-cutting of opera characters. "In order to depict the characters more wonderfully and meet higher aesthetic requirements, the faces of opera characters gradually became the objects of independent depiction and expression," thus forming unique opera facial makeup. Paper cutting. It relies on the art form of facial makeup in traditional opera, shaping the characters' personalities through formatted paper-cut patterns and colors, expressing the characters' loyalty, treachery, righteousness and evil, and is extremely decorative.
