Large scissors and small scissors in Chinese folk paper-cutting
Folk women used to use the same pair of scissors for needlework or other livelihood work and paper-cutting. There were no special scissors for paper-cutting. The use of small scissors in paper-cutting is very late. There is no record of using small scissors before modern times. There were no small scissors at that time. The lack of small scissors does not mean that the ability to produce small scissors was not available at that time. Not to mention that in the Song Dynasty, iron scissors were used. The technology of forging utensils has become quite popular. Zhang Zeduan painted a large stall selling iron utensils under the Hongqiao in "Along the River During the Qingming Festival". Some of the shapes of the iron utensils on display are very similar to todays utensils, indicating that they were forged at that time. The technology is quite high, and there are no technical problems in making small scissors. The problem is that users have no need and there is no market for sales. A pair of large scissors is not amazing in appearance, and it is not considered a valuable item. However, in the rural areas of the past, it was an important and indispensable daily utensil. When a woman gets married, the scissors given by her mothers family will last the owners life and even be passed down to future generations. Those scissors used by skillful hands will be cherished by subsequent users. In the 1960s, my father went to Beijing on a business trip and brought back a pair of large scissors made in Beijing, which are ordinary scissors for daily use. This kind of scissors has two grooves on the inside and the cutting edge is sharp. Grandma used it. It went very smoothly, and my father said that grandma regarded the scissors as a treasure. My grandma is a well-known naughty hand in her hometown. My uncle said, "No one in the village is as good as your grandma." Grandma originally lived in the countryside and got married in the city. All urban citizens originally came from the countryside, and grandma was the successor. She was just a drop in the ocean among immigrants of all generations. The custom of using scissors in rural areas has been maintained in cities and towns since ancient times, and the folk paper-cutting tradition was also imported from rural areas. Therefore, regardless of whether they are in villages or towns, their history of paper-cutting originated from large shears.
The main uses of scissors in modern times include daily life and clothing making, agricultural pruning of fruit trees, industrial rice making, animal husbandry shearing, medical and health care, etc. According to the process of human civilization history, the last four uses appeared relatively late. According to this speculation, The invention and common use of scissors should be related to clothing making. Paper-cutting originated from Nvhongs big scissors, and the artistic language of paper-cutting was undoubtedly formed in the scissors of the big scissors. Many of its techniques are based on the "bigness" of the big scissors and were created after long-term practice, exploration, and creation. "Trimming lines" are the lines of scissors left on the paper during the paper-cutting process.trace.
The fun of paper-cutting lies in connecting one or both sides of different shaped lines into one cutting line. There are several cutting lines in a paper-cutting. Due to the difference in the skill of the paper-cutting person and the different objects represented, the number of cutting lines will also vary. different. Generally speaking, for works with the same shearing shape, the fewer threads you cut, the more difficult it is to cut and the higher the skill required; the more threads you cut, the less difficult it is to cut and twist, and it is difficult to demonstrate your skills. In terms of the shearing characteristics of paper-cutting, it can be said that the shearing line is carried by the shearing line. The extension of the trimming line can make the trimming line long and winding. Due to the long cutting blade and long lever arm, the force of the shear can be large or small, which can best adapt to the changes in thread trimming. This sentence is actually the opposite. It is not that the big shear adapts to the thread cutting, but that the thread cutting changes due to the big shearing ability. A pair of scissors can not only cut long straight lines, but can also cut multiple circuitous curves. After using the scissors for a long time, folk women have mastered the performance of the scissors, and they can use the scissors with ease and ease in their hands. When cutting scissors, you often use "scissors" and "teeth" together, or you can turn the scissors, or push and pull the paper with ease. The force and skill of using the scissors have formed a habitual sensory response, just like when a table tennis player holds a racket to hit the ball. With such a good feel, athletes will naturally respond when hitting the ball without thinking. Because of this, some folk artists will involuntarily hum some nameless and tuneless "Xintianyou" while making scissors in their hands when they are in the mood. The process of their paper-cutting is an artistic enjoyment in itself, and sometimes a little exciting.
Folk artists give full play to the strengths of large scissors in daily paper-cutting and create a set of unique artistic techniques. In ancient times, there was no comparison between small shears and large shears, so the ancients did not have any idea of ????using their specialties. What they considered was how to use the large shears for daily life and work to trim small parts, such as the feathers of birds and animals. The core of a flower, the veins of a leaf, the facial features and clothing lines of a character, etc. Trying to make the minute parts of these paper-cut patterns easy to cut is to avoid the inconvenience of cutting small details with big scissors. The inconvenience of cutting "small" with "big" is the same as the inconvenience of big scissors. This "inconvenience" is a restriction and a norm for large shears. Any folk art with outstanding characteristics is formed under the constraints of its unique tools or materials. Without this restriction, there would be no outstanding and irreplaceable features. Restricted by the inconvenience of large scissors, folk paper-cutting artists have developed superb cutting skills and found a convenient way for large scissors to cut "small" with "big" - extending the cutting line. When large scissors are cutting small parts, This makes it easy. Over time, a unique habit has been developed in cutting threads: minimizing the number of threads and extending the length of one thread as much as possible. The late Yangzhou paper-cutting artistZhang Yongshou perfectly uses the "disconnection" technique of paper-cutting. "Disconnection" is a technique for transferring the positive line and the positive line in thread cutting, which can effectively extend the cutting thread, enrich and improve the expressive ability and technique of paper-cutting. In an 11.5cmx6.5cm camellia by Mr. Zhang Yongshou, the longest cutting line is tortuous, hard and soft, up to two meters long. It runs through the lateral lines of many branches, leaves and flowers. Folding and cutting are also techniques used by folk artists to extend their cutting lines. After the paper is folded in multiple layers, a single cut can produce several times the cutting line of a single layer of paper. The extension of the cutting line cannot be too long, and attention should also be paid to the solid shape of the overall shape of the cutting work, and the distribution and connection of the cutting surfaces should be handled well. The cut surfaces of a paper-cut should be evenly distributed and balanced in size. Small cutting surfaces can have one connection point, and large cutting surfaces can have two to three connection points
