The unique sister art of Chinese folk paper-cutting
Working people created folk literature and art, and also enjoyed folk literature and art. In addition to paper-cutting, their spiritual enjoyment includes operas they can never tire of watching, folk stories and legends they can never tire of listening to, New Year pictures they can never tire of watching, and folk songs and peasant proverbs they have learned since childhood. China has rich historical and cultural heritage. There are many myths, legends and folk stories, such as the legend of Nvshu who created humans from earth, Jiang Taigong fishing, the twelve zodiac signs, the legend of the Eight Immortals, the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl, as well as the stories of General Yang, Bao Gong, and Water Margin, which are widely known among the people. spread. The skillful hands of the elderly in the folk can tell some of the stories from beginning to end and vividly. The characters in these legendary stories have become models for their behavior and ethics. The story of "Wang Xiang lying on the ice" has become a tradition of folk paper-cut expression. theme. In the play, they felt happy when they saw Mr. Bao slaying his uncle. They felt sad for the generals of the Yang family when they saw them framed by Pan Renmei and called the treacherous ministers bad guys. These stories and characters left a deep and lingering impact on their minds. They memorized the behavior, expressions and clothing of the characters in the play, and in their free time, they used paper-cutting to express them based on their memory and imagination. Gao Shuiqin, 56, from Huangling County, northern Shaanxi, watched the drama "The Case of the Coupon" and said: "Qin Xianglian was poor and ambitious, Chen Shimei was ungrateful, and she deserved to be guillotined to death by Bao Gong." So he decided to reflect "Qin Xianglians complaint" on the paper-cutting. idea. Based on his own understanding and knowledge, Gao Shuiqin appropriately beautified the characters during creation, making Qin Xianglian appear steadfast and unyielding. When Zhang Linzhao did the housework of grinding mills, he had to spread the flour flat and mark the figures to be cut on it. Dramatic stories and characters have become common themes in the folk paper-cutting art form. Some rural women have become experts in cutting drama themes, and Zhang Linzhao is one of the best. In the past, cultural life in rural areas was poor, and it was difficult to go to the theater more than once a year. Even if there was an opportunity to watch a theater, it would be better to say that watching a theater is to see the theater troupes costumes, outfits, and costumes. The flowers are beautiful; whichever boy looks beautiful and walks gracefully, they will not let their attention miss every detail. People are unusually enthusiastic about new and unusual things. People who are born and raised in Beijing and have lived in Beijing all year round may not necessarily know how many copper nails are on the Tiananmen Gate, but people who enter Beijing for the first time will run over curiously, count them, and remember them in their hearts. This is a psychological desire for understanding. of satisfaction. Rural working people have lived in a monotonous color environment for a long time. When watching a play, they will also take in everything on the stage with novel eyes. Sensitive psychology will cause visual perception to form a permanent impression of those beautiful costumes, props and decorations and store them in the brains memory., becoming a reference and standard for paper-cut patterns. This strong feeling for the beauty of costumes, coupled with the fact that the faces of paper-cut characters are limited by modeling features and cannot express rich inner emotions, they put more energy in artistic expression into the performance of character dynamics and gorgeous costumes. Paper-cutting with folk drama themes Whether the lines are rough or slender, this characteristic is obvious. It is the main style feature of Chinese folk paper-cut drama themes.
Some skilled paper-cutting hands among the people not only express the beauty of dynamic costumes, but also try their best to explore the inner world of the characters. Zhang Linzhaos "Mu Guiying" is a very charming masterpiece. The artistic form she used to cut the drama characters in "The Yang Family" has already shown that she has broken through the limitations of facial modeling on emotional expression. "Mu Guiying" is another of her efforts to break through this limitation. The paper-cutting depicts Mu Guiyings heroic spirit and strong temperament of killing enemies for the country through the eyes. She uses the shadow of the face to set off the eyes. When he came out, one could feel Mu Guiyings eyes staring back, and Dulis vigilant gaze was enough to make the enemy tremble. Mu Guiyings clothes were obviously cut according to the costumes in her memory, and there were also shadows of the door gods New Year paintings in them.
The costumes of drama characters are usually made of silk and satin. These clothes are too bulky and not close to the body. When static, the clothing lines droop almost in a straight line, and the clothing lines curve and tilt in the direction of movement with movement. If the upper limbs move more, there will be more diagonal clothing lines. Because the lower limbs are covered by robes and skirts, the movements will be slight, and there will be more straight clothing lines. Especially for Tsing Yi Hua Dan who walks in small steps. What is important in the theater is that the feet move and the skirt does not move. In order to show that the ladies are calm, generous and dignified, even the young masters in the play rarely take long steps. Anyone who takes a long step must pick up the feet of his robe and skirt. The "static, straight, moving and oblique" characteristics of costume patterns also form a constant impression in their visual perception. Rural performances are performed on a temporary stage set up in an open space. If the performance is performed during the day and the light is sufficient to see clearly, the visual sense of "stillness, straightness, movement and obliqueness" will be obvious; when watching a night play, the stage is illuminated by lanterns. The bright and clear shape of the clothing lines will give a stronger visual experience. They express the characteristics of "still, straight, moving and oblique" in the paper-cut dramatic figures, and also in the artistic modeling of paper-cut patterns of real life figures. They believe that such clothing patterns are the clothing patterns of beautiful costumes and are a symbol of the beauty of clothing. Clothes with such clothing patterns are neat, smooth and beautiful. Although the life of rural women is difficult, they want to put on beautiful clothes in the drama characters they cut out. Gao Shuiqin cuts "When "Qin Xianglian Complained", she felt that the clothes of Qin Xianglians mother and son in the play were not good-looking and appeared rough in the paper-cutting, so she added small patterns to the childrens clothes in the paper-cut work "Qin Xianglian Complained", and added lines and lines on their pants. Tassels were added to the threads and shoes, and horns were tied on the head. Gao Shuiqin used "dao" and "threads" to beautify the clothes, indicating that she thought these Dao Dao were visually beautiful, and she did not regard these Dao Dao as clothing patterns. Instead, they are regarded as elements of beauty and used to express the costumes of dramatic characters. Gao Shuiqin’s creative techniques and thinking are consistent with the previous analysis.
The expression characteristics of "static, straight, moving and oblique" clothing patterns are also used in the paper-cutting art form of daily life figures, becoming Chinese folk paper-cutters
