Introduction and traceability of fine-grained paper-cutting in Yueqing, Zhejiang
Zhejiang Yueqing is located on the southeast coast of my country. Since the Southern Song Dynasty, it has been an area with prosperous economy, frequent foreign trade and overseas exchanges, so handicrafts and commerce are relatively developed. Yueqing is located on the coast and has the custom of worshiping the dragon god and sea god. Around the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, a unique dragon lantern appeared in the coastal villages of Yueqing during the Spring Festival celebrations. It was shaped like a boat, with a dragon-head-shaped bow, so it was called "dragon boat".
As early as the Ming Dynasty ancient book "Qi Hai Suo Tan", it was recorded that at that time in Yueqing, there was a popular saying that "the village is made of mud, like the head and tail of a dragon, with a cut plate as its body, a machine to turn the pulley, a bonfire on top, and a golden drum. , asking for appreciation along the door, called 'dragon boat lantern'." This kind of dragon boat lantern later developed into the "jewelry dragon" popular in Yueqing Bay area, with more sophisticated production and more complex and beautiful decoration. Folk artists decorate the jewelry dragon boats with various carved papers expressing auspicious meanings, making the appearance of the dragon boats even more colorful. This kind of carved paper specially used to decorate dragon boats is called "Dragon Boat Flower". "Dragon Boat Flower" is generally about 20 cm long and 10 cm wide, and is carved from white continuous paper. Generally speaking, dragon boat flowers are designed in three layers, with the inner and outer layers. The outermost layer is called "wicker" and the design is relatively simple. The larger area in the middle is the main part of the dragon boat flower, which is engraved with various geometric figures, mostly arranged in two or four consecutive directions. The area of ??about 2 square centimeters in the center is where the most effort can be seen. Very fine fish scale patterns or double fish patterns are engraved to form a contrast with the surrounding straight lines.
It is said that the custom of posting "dragon boat flowers" on dragon lanterns began in Xiangyangsi Village, Yueqing in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, and later spread to other areas of Yueqing. Moreover, the exquisiteness of the "dragon boat flowers" gradually became One of the important criteria for judging "Jewelry Dragon". As a result, the dragon boat flowers became more and more finely carved, and each village took pride in their fineness. Many folk artists who carved fine lines appeared, pushing fine-grained paper-cutting to the extreme.The style and craftsmanship of "Dragon Boat Flower" have also been continuously developed. The decorative patterns alone include more than 60 different styles such as single road pins, double road pins, Tianjiaotian, cross holes, orthographic patterns, and fish scale patterns.
After the founding of New China, in order to discover, organize and support folk art, some cultural cadres began to go deep into the people to conduct research on folk art. In the 1950s, Yueqings "Dragon Boat Flower" began to become known to the outside world. As the dragon lantern activities faded away, improving the "Dragon Boat Flower" and turning it into a paper-cut variety with Yueqing characteristics became a major topic for "Dragon Boat Flower" artists and folk art researchers at that time. With the support of the Zhejiang Provincial Government, in 1955, Yueqing gathered old artists scattered throughout the country to form a fine-grained paper production group. After joint exploration by experts and folk artists, they finally created "Yueqing fine-grained paper" based on "Dragon Boat Flower" and absorbed local Yueqing paper-cut patterns and various folk patterns.
As an independent folk arts and crafts, its nature is different from other folk paper-cuts or "dragon boat flowers". It is no longer just an original folk art with practical functions. It embodies a need in the new historical period to adapt to economic development, that is, paper-cut arts and crafts with commercial value and mainly for appreciation. As early as the 1960s, in order to enter the market, "Yueqing fine-grained paper" was transformed from the original scattered small-scale production of dragon boat flowers into mass-produced cultural products. Through streamline operations, artists first designed patterns, and then folk artists or female workers Carved and produced in batches, it finally becomes an exquisite piece of arts and crafts. Therefore, compared with other original paper-cuts, the productivity of Yueqing fine-grained paper is more obvious.
