Fuyang paper-cut artist Cheng Jianli
Cheng Jianli is the standard bearer of Fuyang paper-cutting. Many experts and scholars have conducted in-depth research and highly affirmed his artistic achievements. By understanding Cheng Jianlis paper-cutting career and paper-cutting style, we can have a clearer understanding of the appearance and artistic characteristics of Fuyang paper-cutting.
Since the veteran artist Cheng Jianli has passed away, there is no condition to conduct a direct interview with Mr. Cheng. To this end, I visited the sons, apprentices and other relevant personnel of the old artist Cheng, collected many important documents, and further compiled the materials for the theoretical research on Cheng Jianlis paper-cut art.
1. Artistic career
Cheng Jianli (1921-2006), male, a farmer from Chengwei Village, Zhengwu Town, Yingdong District, Fuyang City. Director of the Chinese Paper-cutting Society and master of Chinese folk paper-cutting art.
Cheng Jianlis family has lived on the Huaibei Plain for generations, and he has deep feelings for his hometown. His family was poor since he was a child, and he made a living by herding cattle for the landlord. The conditions were difficult and there was no paper, so when people were herding cattle, they used mulberry leaves to make various shapes. He started his paper-cutting career at the age of thirteen. After working, his greatest pleasure is to cut things he sees and thinks of. In his own words: "Whenever I encounter something good-looking, I feel itchy in my heart. I have to cut it off even if I don't eat or drink." Hard work paid off, and in his teenage years, he gradually developed the ability to cut and move the shapes. Become a master at cutting flowers. He is invited to do daily paper-cutting tasks such as festivals, weddings and funerals, embroidery on dolls and womens clothes in the village. Later, in order to make a living, he became a paper-cutting artist who bought patterns and went to Lu'an and other places to buy paper-cutting. In 1957, he went to Guizhou to beg for food with his mother and brother to find his long-lost father. After working as a porter in Guizhou for three years, he worked as a pattern master in an embroidery factory in Guizhou, mainly cutting patterns and pasting them on clothing. He is a master of flower cutting there, able to cut more than 4,500 patterns, and draws a lot of nutrients from Guizhous rich folk art. In 1962, after returning to Chengwei Village, he still farmed and continued his paper-cutting. Because of his travel experience, his paper-cutting gradually formed his own style. But during the Cultural Revolution, I had to give up my hobby. In the early 1980s, I picked up scissors again and often worked in FuyangStreet stalls are set up in the ancient shopping mall to buy fancy goods. During every New Year, wedding and wedding, the folks in his hometown are loyal admirers of his paper-cut works.
2. Representative works
Cheng Jianlis early works were mainly shoe flowers, pillow flowers, and wedding flowers. From the 1980s, he broke out of the creative circle of shoe flowers and hat flowers and began to make paper-cut figures. During this period, his paper-cutting reached the pinnacle of art, and his works won many national, provincial, and municipal awards. Most of his works are based on real life, costume characters, and folk stories. His character paper cuts use zigzag patterns to perfectly handle the relationship between black and white. Most of the works have thick blocks and thick lines.
Paper-cut works Fuhu Cheng Jianli
The work "Cuddling Tiger" is a symmetrical work. On the picture, a child holding a pair of axes stares angrily. He stands on the head of a tiger and divides the tigers body into two. The hips on both sides are shaped like two mountains. The child holds a mountain axe. He pushed hard to both sides. At this time, the tiger was no longer as scary as usual with teeth and claws. Instead, his eyes were upward, his upper lip was tightly clasped against his lower lip, and his front paws were weakly lying on the ground. He no longer had the majesty of the past when he was the king of the mountain. The entire picture is shaped with zigzag and swirl patterns, with a complete composition and full of rhythmic changes. I have also cut the Beijing opera "Sanchakou". The outline of the paper is simple, symbolizing a dark scene. The two bright eyes in the middle look at each other, showing the situation of groping and alerting each other in the dark. This is the most exciting plot in "Sanchakou". Some people say that Cheng Jianlis paper-cut is facing the "eye of the show".
Paper-cut work Sanchakou Cheng Jianli
Cheng Jianli’s works have won gold and silver awards in national paper-cutting competitions many times. In 1985, 22 of his works were exhibited at the First National Paper-cutting Annual Conference, which received unanimous praise. In 1996, "Fuhu" won the first prize in the "National Color Paper-cutting". In 2000, his work "Wang Xiang Lying on the Ice" won the "Retrospective Exhibition of the Century of Chinese Paper-cutting""First Prize. In 2001, his work "The King of Medicine Rides a Tiger and Cures a Dragon" won the gold medal at the "Chinese Folk Custom Paper-cutting Exhibition". In the same year, he was named "Master of Chinese Folk Paper-cutting Art". From 2002 to 2004, paper-cutting His works have won many awards. 103 of his works have been collected by the National Art Museum of China. Paper-cut theorist Jin Zhilin wrote an inscription for him: "Everyones handiwork - I am fortunate to have read the paper-cut works of Master Cheng Jianli."
Paper-cut work "The King of Medicine Rides a Tiger and Cures the Dragon" by Cheng Jianli
3. Artistic features
Because of his life experience, Cheng Jianlis works are rich in life, rough and unpretentious, and full of the interest of swords and paper. Cheng Jianli has an optimistic attitude towards life and sings a ditty while cutting paper. During his long career as a performer, he has honed his proficiency and the styles of his works are diverse. His experience of traveling around the country has made his paper-cutting works good at absorbing various cultures. His artistic features are mainly reflected in his ability to sing and edit at the same time, his work styles are varied, and he is good at absorbing multiculturalism.
(1) Sing and cut at the same time
Cheng Jianli sells paper-cuts at a street stall. "The music never leaves his mouth, and the cutting never leaves his hands." As a result, many people gathered around his stall. Listen to the music and watch the cuts. It is said that he could sing more than 400 folk songs. He said: "I want to sing as soon as I move the scissors, but my voice feels itchy if I don't sing just by scissors." Although the Fuyang area was historically poor, there were many folk operas and country tunes. Cheng Jianli was a free and easy man. When he was young, he participated in the peasant art troupe in the village. He often danced land boats and sang ditties, so he learned many folk dances and folk ditties. The more you sing, the more you can arrange your own songs. He said, "You can cut whatever you want, and sing whatever you think of." When Cheng Jianli cuts paper, he does not need to start a draft. He pinches the paper with his left hand and holds the scissors with his right hand. The paper can be cut out by moving it freely under the cut.
(2) Variable styles
