Studying the significance of Chinese folk paper-cutting
Paper-cutting is a folk art created, spread and enjoyed by people in the folk life of farming society, and it is also a part of peoples life. "Folk paper-cutting does not exist in isolation, but is integrated with the folk culture of Chinas farming society. Ancient agricultural sacrifices, inherent agricultural festivals, stable rural residences, continuous agricultural and sideline production, and the cultural heritage accumulated by history Folk psychology and inherited folk activities fundamentally determine the content, orientation and form of folk paper-cutting." However, with social changes, the development of the commodity economy and the large-scale influx of rural people into cities, China has been shaken for more than two thousand years. The self-sufficient production method in rural areas and the social foundation of farming culture are rapidly changing farming folk culture, the cultural carrier for the inheritance and development of folk paper-cutting, and the social and ecological environment on which it depends. The original folk life has changed, and the folk inheritance represented by paper-cutting has shown a diversified trend. On the one hand, with the improvement of the rural living environment and the increase in social productivity, paper-cutting has gradually faded away, existing only on occasions such as annual festivals and life rituals; on the other hand, paper-cutting has gradually transformed from a daily life content that villagers are accustomed to to a local cultural symbol and part of the national culture.
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Most of the original articles and books on paper-cutting focus on the history, patterns, functions, symbols, etc. of paper-cutting, that is, they focus on studying its artistic characteristics from a cultural perspective, while focusing on such aspects as paper-cutting artists, paper-cutting inheritance environment, and paper-cutting inheritance. The overall research orientation of life, including the people, such as mechanisms, has not attracted sufficient attention from the academic community. For example: under what conditions and in what way did the inheritors of paper-cutting inherit the skills? What is the relationship between folk culture represented by paper-cutting and the people? How has the art and commercialization of paper-cutting affected the intergenerational inheritance of paper-cutting. The answers and discussions to the above questions cannot be solved within the field of folk art alone. This requires more use of theories and perspectives from folklore and other social sciences to achieve in-depth discussions on the inheritance of paper-cutting. It is hoped that the pursuit and explanation of such issues can bring useful enlightenment to the research on the historical inheritance and folk custom inheritance of paper-cutting.
Folklore research should be a combination of textual research (information) and micro-sociological research (communication laws). The study of paper-cut inheritance has theoretical construction significance for folklore. From inheritance conditions and inheritanceComprehensive discussions on normativeness, inheritors, inheritance mechanisms and other aspects can make up for the shortcomings of previous text-based studies such as art decoration and cultural connotation carriers. On this basis, the original folk custom inheritance path will be broadened. It can provide a broader social perspective and humanistic environment for the study of folklore inheritance represented by paper-cutting, and enhance the ability of folklore to explore and dialogue with practical issues.
Generally speaking, scholars believe that "people" can be understood through the study of "customs" and ordinary people who are the foundation of power in a democratic political system; 'we must understand the inheritance of "customs" through the study of "people", Understand how the inheritance of "custom" forms the cultural foundation of the national community. Professor Xing Li believes that "folk paper-cutting is the art of producers, and the art of producers directly faces peoples living world." Therefore, the study of the inheritance of paper-cutting can be regarded as using "customs" to explore the life world of "people", and using "people" to gain an understanding of "customs". In terms of research approaches, inheritance research answers the question of how "common people" understand their own culture from a cultural perspective, and it can also answer from a life perspective how folk customs develop the common people. The significance of inheritance research lies in further deepening the formation of a common sense of the group that respects and understands each other, and group members continue to recognize the commonality of their cultures. Inheritance is the continuation of folk culture and folk life. It is the transmission of folk culture between generations, and it is also the life practice of folk people.
