The transformation from traditional She nationality paper-cutting to modern paper-cutting
Due to the limitations of its geographical scope, the traditional paper-cutting of the She people has been less affected and impacted by foreign cultures, and has maintained a relatively stable original character for a long time. However, with the accelerated urbanization process after the reform and opening up, the original form of She paper-cutting, which relied on traditional living customs, has rapidly shrunk; and another type of change trend such as "individuation of paper-cutting authors", "commercialization" and even "artistic" The trend of “productization” is in the ascendant. The paper-cut creators borrowed the traditional patterns and techniques of the She people, and the themes mainly showed the production labor and folk life of the She people. The shapes ranged from small to large, the patterns from simple to complex, and the expression of space from flat to array. These changes have catered to the aesthetic needs of modern people.
First, the subject of creation has changed. Traditional paper-cutting of the She people is mostly inherited or created by women in remote rural areas after hard work. The authors are generally amateur or semi-amateur. In contemporary society, some new creative paper-cuts have emerged that adapt to the development of the times. The authors are mostly individual creators or mentors of local cultural departments. At present, a group of contemporary paper-cut creators have emerged in Luoyuan County, and their paper-cuts have a strong sense of the times. Take the paper-cut artist Zhu Xueshun as an example. Although his paper-cuts retain traditional patterns, their ideas are novel. He is especially good at using paper-cut narratives to express key scenes and details in the storyline with typical pictures. This is due to his long-term experience in She Village to understand folk customs and collect traditional Patterns are inseparable.
Zhu Xuesun, born in 1941, has been interested in paper-cutting since he was a child. In his spare time, he occasionally visited paper-cutting artists in rural areas. Since Luoyuan belongs to a mixed population of She and Han people, Zhu Xuesun gradually paid attention to the inheritance and protection of folk culture during his long-term exchanges with the She people: "Especially for paper-cutting, if an old man passes away, according to the characteristics of the current rural areas, as soon as he passes away, he will If something needs to be burned, it will be gone." In order to prevent these treasures of folk art from disappearing with the changes of the times, in 1996, Zhu Xuesun, Chen Chengmei and other members of the Fuzhou Paper-cut Research Association began to Luo Yuan’s folk paper-cuttings are being rescued and protected. closeOver the past twenty years, they have visited more than 60 veteran folk paper-cut artists and collected more than 2,000 folk paper-cuts, including more than 200 She ethnic paper-cuts. At the same time, starting in 1997, Zhu Xuesun has successively opened paper-cutting courses at the Luoyuan County Senior Citizens' University, Fengshan Town Senior Citizens' School and Lianjiang County Senior Citizens' University, with more than 20 students in each class and half-day classes every week. Students also often go deep into She villages and create a large number of paper-cut works with She ethnic themes. Zhu Xueshun also went to Fuhu Village and Qifu Town many times to hold paper-cutting lectures for the She people. In addition to training theoretical knowledge, he also expanded the pattern to 8K and guided the students to practice paper-cutting step by step.
Second, use changes. The traditional paper-cuttings of the She people created for individual needs such as praying for blessings and disasters, seeking children and wealth, etc., are mostly for personal use or circulated in a small area, and are rarely sold as commodities. With the change of subject, creative paper-cutting has become a purely ornamental visual art work, emphasizing the creation of personal artistic style. It is mainly used for exhibitions and sales, and even as souvenirs with national characteristics. During the investigation, the author found that the cultural station in Fuhu Village had a paper-cut work by Zhu Xueshun - "Spring in She Family". This work won the gold medal in the paper-cutting competition of the 8th China Art Festival ? The 2nd International (Wuhan) Paper-cut Art Expo. When the village cadres of Fuhu Village received important guests, they presented the framed "Spring in the She Family" as souvenirs to the guests.
