Zigong folk paper-cutting artist—Yu Manbai

Yu Manbai (1918-1968) was born in Tianjiaxian, Zhushan County, Shiyan City, Hubei Province. His original name was Yu Xiangwen. He changed his name to Manbai because he admired Qi Baishis paintings and Su Manshus poems. He has been passionate about Chinese folk art since he was a child. He is also good at epigraphy and stone carving, calligraphy and painting, and is also quite accomplished in poetry. Like Zhang Yongshou from Yangzhou, Huang Kaotian from Hunan, Jiang Zaipu from Hubei, Ma Lianxi from Nanjing, and Wang Zigan from Shanghai who had special experiences during that period of going out to study under teachers and traveling to other places to make a living, Yu Manbai from Hubei drifted to Sichuan in 1944 , went to Zigong in 1946 to make a living by teaching seal engraving, paper-cutting and performing arts. He has extensive artistic accomplishment and literary literacy, and is good at integrating various folk arts into paper-cutting. He is the master of Zigong paper-cutting art.

Since the 1950s, Yu Manbai has paid attention to collecting and sorting out Zigong folk paper-cuts, studying ancient stone and wood carving patterns, and combined the delicate and delicate Jiangsu and Zhejiang paper-cuts, which are mainly curves, with the block-based, vigorous and thick paper-cuts. The organic combination of mine and northern paper-cutting established the unique style of later Rigong paper-cutting. 3 In the early days, Yu Manbai performed paper-cutting at the Huafu Teahouse located next to the Sansheng Bridge in Shawan, Zigong. At the beginning, he cut some flowers, birds, insects, fish, and bonsai melons and fruits. Due to his long-term practical experience and attainments in the art of engraving, calligraphy and painting, Yu Manbai soon made breakthroughs in the subject matter and creative style of paper-cutting, which he perfected day by day. His paper-cut works have participated in many competitions and won awards. His paper-cut works have attracted attention from all parties, and many people have ordered paper-cut works from him. By the late 1950s, Yu Manbais paper-cutting represented the highest achievement of Zigong paper-cutting, and it went abroad and participated in exhibitions in various countries. During this period, Yu Manbai created a large number of paper-cut works such as "Feeding Chickens", "Peace Hong", and "Squirrel Planted on Stone".

In particular, the work "Better than Zhao Zilong in Bravery and More Motivated than Mu Guiying" has become Yu Manbais paper-cut art creation.A milestone on the road. This paper-cut door painting is very popular because of its strong atmosphere of the times, profound meaning, unique technique and magnificent picture. It has become popular all over the country and won the National Art Creation Award for the 10th Anniversary of the Founding of the Peoples Republic of China. Sichuan Peoples Publishing House prints 3.4 million sheets at a time. Yu Manbai knew that the foundation of paper-cutting lies in the folk. Once, he learned that the folk artist Zhang Hanqing used wax carving techniques to improve the efficiency of paper-cutting, so he learned wax carving from Zhang Hanqing. After that, he changed the scissors to be ground with clockwork springs. The unique carving knife combines cutting and engraving, which greatly improves the efficiency of paper-cutting and takes the fineness of artistic works to a higher level, forming the unique "Yu style". This artistic technique of combining cutting and carving has become the most distinctive creative form of Zigong paper-cutting in the future. In the early 1960s, Sichuan Peoples Publishing House published the "Yu Manbai Paper-cut Pattern Collection", which was a concentrated display of his artistic achievements and marked the maturity and perfection of his creations.

In 1962, "Sichuan Folk Paper-cutting" was published, and Yu Manbais selected works accounted for one-third of the book. In 1983, Sichuan Province held the "First Folk Art Exhibition", displaying 19 of his works. Many of these works reflect local life or the customs and customs of Zigong Salt Capital. The works have been widely praised and loved by the public, and have become Yu Manbais representative works. Yu Manbai is particularly good at paper-cutting figures. The paper-cut figures he created are numerous, including workers, farmers, businessmen, academics, soldiers, women, and opera figures. They are all-encompassing, vivid and expressive, in various poses, and each has its own characteristics. The composition is simple, very local, and full of folk romance. His works such as "Fishing Girl", "Singing and Dancing", "Descendants of the Yi Nationality" and "Spring Festival Song" were loved by overseas merchants and compatriots from Hong Kong and Macao at the Canton Fair. Yu Manbais main works in the later period include "Asian-African Unity" and "Unite of All Nationalities", which are also his most representative character paper-cut works. In "Unity of Asia and Africa", Yu Manbai used incised techniques to express the dark skin and full lips of African women, portraying African women vividly; "Great Unity of All Nationalities" and his subsequent creations of Chinese ethnic women The portraits of characters use Yang carving to express the yellow skin of Asians. Among the portraits of women from ten different ethnic groups in my country, the faces of the characters are outlined with extremely fine lines in profile, which is very oriental female. Yes eyebrows are also the headwear, clothing and other characteristics of various ethnic groups. Every detail is taken care of properly, so that viewers can't help but marvel at its perfect modeling ability and production skills.

It was from the late 1950s to the early 1960s that many folk paper-cutting artists appeared, especially the emergence of Yu Manbai, who changed the original clumsy expression technique of Zigong paper-cutting and pushed Zigong paper-cutting to the forefront. Entering a new glorious stage. In order to carry forward Zigong paper-cutting and create successors for the art of paper-cutting, Yu Manbai successively recruited 16 apprentices to teach the paper-cutting skills, including Shen Chenglin, Chen Shiqing, Wu Zhongqiong, Hu Defang, and Li Shiping, who made great contributions to Zigong paper-cutting. artist.