Overview of Chinese folk paper-cutting

Chinese folk paper-cutting art has a history of thousands of years. As a kind of folk art, it has been passed down from generation to generation. It is inherited and used in the customary life of multi-ethnic villages in China. It maintains the traditional survival form and is the most popular life style. Aesthetic art. Paper-cutting has no time and space limitations. It only requires some cutting and engraving skills and clever hands. Because the production tools and materials are simple and easy to obtain, the art of paper-cutting has continued among the people for thousands of years. In the early stages of its formation, the art of paper-cutting interacted with sister arts such as bronze sculpture, embroidery, pottery carving, and rock painting, leading to their respective development and maturity.

Historically, paper-cutting has long been difficult to achieve elegance because it is a folk work or a minor skill such as female embroidery. Therefore, the written materials that have survived in the history of mainstream Chinese art are very limited; and the paper-cutting works themselves are not easy to preserve due to material limitations, so The historical evolution and development of paper-cutting is not very clear. Most of the research on modern paper-cut art only focuses on the superficial exploration and classification. Most of the works on paper-cut art are mainly about appreciation, and there is a lack of systematic research, cultural research and vertical and horizontal comparative studies with other arts. For a long time, academic circles, especially the art circle, have conducted a lot of research on Chinese folk paper-cutting, including the history, current situation, artistic tradition, artistic style, and modeling characteristics of Chinese folk paper-cutting. Many studies have also been produced. Achievements: As early as the Anti-Japanese War, Mr. Liqun, a printmaker, had already paid attention to collecting paper-cut works when he was deeply involved in life. Comprehensive research on folk paper-cutting began at the Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee of the Communist Party of China. After the reform and opening up, the "root-seeking craze" that emerged in the literary and art circles inspired peoples unprecedented enthusiasm and expectations for folk paper-cutting art, especially in the art circle. The research results include nearly 4,000 technical introductions, pattern collections, local and personal works collections, and simple introductions.