The concept and diversity of Chinese folk paper-cutting
Paper-cutting is a folk art that is widely spread in China and has a long history. It is an art that uses paper as the processing object and scissors or carving tools as tools for creation. Chinese folk paper-cutting is widely distributed, and the differences in regional cultural ecology have led to the richness and variety of Chinese folk paper-cutting. This difference provides a suitable environmental soil for the survival and development of paper-cutting folk culture. Different farming cultural ecological environments also provide the inner meaning of paper-cutting. The accumulation of structure and the formation of style provide unique nutrients and deep cultural genes. The style of Chinese folk paper-cutting is generally considered to be grand and rough in the north, and delicate and beautiful in the south. However, in fact, in the wealthy plain areas of the north, you can also see very exquisite and detailed paper-cutting of opera characters, while some mountainous areas in the south also have rough and unrestrained paper-cutting. Paper cut style. Therefore, the local economic and cultural situation is also an important factor in the formation of paper-cut style.
Generally speaking, in relatively prosperous agricultural areas, cultural life is developed and feudal ethics are more strictly controlled. Therefore, folk paper-cutting often has a set of procedures and the style tends to be rigorous and refined; while in remote and closed mountainous areas, or with farming culture In less developed areas, peoples living standards are less constrained, and paper-cutting is less formal and more casual. Taking the Yellow River Basin as an example, along the Great Wall at the junction of farming culture and grassland culture, the aesthetic characteristics of folk paper-cutting more directly show some primitive characteristics. Traffic congestion has created a closed living and cultural environment, making it more Other areas are better able to retain the simple folk customs and maternal cultural characteristics. Compared with the paper-cutting in areas with sophisticated farming culture, it more directly reflects the original religious concepts and witchcraft cultural awareness, and has a strong primitive mythological color. And this seemingly rough paper-cut style does not focus on the reality of the image, but on improvising at will to convey images and emotions.
In a more sophisticated agricultural cultural ecological environment, the original religious color of folk paper-cutting gradually fades away, and more of it appears in a way that is close to the taste of life. In some areas with prosperous economy, convenient transportation, prosperous commerce and developed culture since ancient times, there are more exchanges between upper-class culture and lower-class culture, and between cultures in different places. The orthodox literati culture will penetrate into the folk to a certain extent, and intentionally orUnintentionally sorting out the paper-cutting art that belongs to local culture, affecting its subject matter, form and aesthetic sentiment.
The paper-cut art developed in this state often reveals an elegant and refined temperament. What it pursues is not to vent emotions, but to express interest. In particular, the emergence of opera character paper-cutting and shadow puppetry has developed this delicate and complex, standardized and refined quality to a certain level. It incorporates a variety of cultural qualities, making it more watchable and explainable. The roughness and unrestrainedness of Shaanxi paper-cutting, the beauty and softness of Zhejiang paper-cutting, the colorfulness of Hebei paper-cutting, the splendor of Guangdong paper-cutting, the ethnic customs of Xiangxi paper-cutting...these external characteristics actually reflect the deep structure of paper-cutting folk culture and the natural environment. , differences caused by physical state and human history and cultural form.
The diversity of Chinese folk paper-cutting culture itself is an important asset that we need to maintain; on the other hand, this difference also reminds us that when protecting folk paper-cutting, we must also refer to its objective cultural survival soil. Taking into account the imbalance of economic and cultural development in various regions in China at this stage. Therefore, our work on the protection of Chinese folk paper-cutting cannot be one-size-fits-all. We must summarize and differentiate and deal with and solve these problems according to local conditions.
