Chinese traditional folk paper-cutting and a persons life
Old people often say that paper-cutting can cut out a persons life. What it actually wants to express is that paper-cut culture is inseparable from the lives of ordinary people. Every stage of life has a corresponding paper-cut theme and paper-cut creation. People will convey their yearning and pursuit for a better life through paper-cutting. The following will give a brief description of one person’s lifelong pursuit of paper-cutting.
The birth of a child is the happiest thing for a family. Whenever a child is born, parents will invite ingenious women in the village to make paper-cut works with corresponding themes to congratulate them. Common paper-cut works about the birth of a child include "Doll Sitting on Lotus" and "Guanyin Avalokitesvara". Parents will post these paper-cut works on the walls and windows of their homes to express the sense of joy and wealth.
As children grow older, there are a series of folk customs and customs that are constantly related to paper-cutting. When a child reaches the age of twelve, parents will invite relatives and friends to gather at home to express congratulations on the childs growth. Among the many congratulatory items from the elders, the most eye-catching one is that grandma will cut out a set of "long life pictures" with her own hands, and everyone will hang or post this paper-cut pattern in the center of the room. This is not over yet. When twelve o'clock arrives at noon, the grandmother will fold her grandson in half and recite auspicious words about the "long life picture", such as nine pomegranates and one Buddhas hand, to protect her mother and never leave; With a goldfish on his head and a happy rabbit in his arms, he will live to be ninety-nine. This lively and interesting blessing expresses the elders’ deep blessings for the younger ones, hoping that their children will be rich and prosperous and live a long life. This is also the expectation of all elders for the younger generations.
Every adult will hold an important ceremony, that is, the wedding, and this is also the biggest celebration in life. As for wedding paper-cutting, this is the most familiar to people. In order to celebrate such an auspicious day, people will make many wedding paper-cuts full of beautiful meanings and blessings, among which the paper-cuts with the word "happy" are the main ones.. Red paper-cuts decorate the front and back of the home and the inside and outside of the village. Common wedding paper-cut themes are usually magpies, plum blossoms, peonies, lotus, etc. Of course, different combinations have different meanings. For example, the combination of magpie and plum blossoms symbolizes "overjoyed", while the combination of magpies and lotus symbolizes "happy knot". Of course, there are also paper-cuts of mandarin ducks, which symbolize the relationship between husband and wife. Time and beauty will never be separated. Paper-cuts including "dragon and phoenix present auspiciousness" and "lotus gives birth to a noble son" mark good wishes for a happy life after marriage.
When a person enters old age, the paper-cutting at this time expresses more blessings for the elderly to live a long life. The theme of paper-cutting is also mainly based on the "longevity" of basic clothes. The most common paper-cut theme is "Fu, Lu, Shou and Xi". The combination of things that often appear in the "Fu, Lu, Shou and Xi" paper-cuts are "bat", "deer", "shou peach", "magpie", etc. The main borrowings are this The homophony of the names of several things, through different combinations of these things, expresses the heartfelt blessings of "good fortune, longevity and happiness" to the elderly.
As you can see, a person is accompanied by paper-cutting throughout his life. As a unique cultural phenomenon, folk paper-cutting has been firmly rooted in peoples lives. Paper-cutting cannot be separated from the creation of peoples wisdom, and people cannot leave the spiritual comfort and artistic appreciation needs brought by paper-cutting. This also determines that paper-cutting will continue to develop with the continuation of human history and be passed down as a special cultural symbol.
