The influence of traditional concepts on the development of folk paper-cutting
In the traditional concept of the Chinese people, paper-cutting, like many folk arts, is just the most common and cheap folk thing and cannot be promoted to the upper echelons. Compared with other folk crafts, folk paper-cutting is cheap, easy to learn and master, and is generally mastered by folk women in the old days. Therefore, few people regard it as a serious "craft", except for those that are sold in some cities. A professional artist who makes paper-cutting patterns. Paper-cutting has always existed in the local people as a part of female celebrities, and the method of inheritance is natural and spontaneous.
There are very few records about paper-cutting in ancient times, and there are even fewer records about its skills and artists. Under the influence of this concept, few people regard paper-cutting as an art or craft. Among the people, although people will praise those ingenious paper-cutting women, they rarely appreciate it as an art, and even fewer people Systematic research and investigation on paper-cutting have made folk paper-cutting "obscure" for a long time. The lack of attention to folk paper-cutting inevitably leads to its slow development. In modern times, with the re-understanding of folk art, people have a new judgment on the value and significance of paper-cutting, which is gradually recognized by the public. However, most people and consumers, including paper-cutting artists themselves, are still lagging behind in their assessment of the true value of paper-cutting. In recent years, when communicating with foreign countries, we will find that the artistic and commercial value of paper-cutting art far exceeds domestic expectations. Chinese folk paper-cutting has been exported to many countries around the world and is generally welcomed. In their eyes, paper-cutting is an artwork with more Chinese folk customs and personality than the profound Chinese landscape paintings and calligraphy.
In 1974, when the International Bookstore of the Foreign Publishing House went to Japan to hold an art exhibition, they unexpectedly discovered that the Japanese were particularly interested in Chinese paper-cutting. At that time, a set of "Water Margin" character paper-cuts was ordered by the Japanese for 100,000 yuan, which shocked China greatly in the 1970s. The International Bookstore also set up an art export department specifically for this purpose. Paper-cutting has since become a regular export variety, and the export volume is growing. Compared with Japan and Germany, which value craftsmanship, the price of paper-cutting is relatively high, such asA paper-cut knife gesture painting by Japanese paper-cut artist Masayuki Miyata can be sold for hundreds of thousands of yuan, and his limited-edition paper-cut prints are priced as high as 21,000 yuan. A paper-cut work by the famous German paper-cut artist Engel, copied in limited edition by his family, is priced at more than 10,000 yuan each. China is a big country of paper-cutting, but the general public has obviously insufficient understanding of the artistic and cultural value of folk paper-cutting. These are the reasons why paper-cutting is considered a relatively cheap "local specialty" after entering the market, and is not regarded as an art with great commercial value.
