Commercial production of Chinese folk paper-cutting
The commercialization of folk paper-cutting probably occurred in the Northern Song Dynasty at the latest. The emergence of urban commerce in the Northern Song Dynasty promoted private material exchanges and trade. The formation of business operations and street markets caused some farmers to leave agriculture and go to cities for business. Some men among them saw business opportunities in the collective sales of folk embroidery. They come from the countryside and know that women can't do without patterns in their daily life. In the countryside, the hard work all day long leaves them no time to cut out patterns that they are satisfied with. Not every woman can do it to cut out patterns that are admirable. . There are only two or three such talents in a village. In a city, it is difficult to pick one among several streets. Other women often ask these skilled hands to help or "do" their tricks. Although most of these skillful hands are willing to help, they always feel uneasy because of the debt they owe others in the past. There are ready-made patterns for sale, and it doesn't cost much. Of course they are willing to buy them, saving them the trouble of hiring someone. In this kind of transaction in rural areas, most people use their own agricultural products to exchange needed things with vendors. Small items such as patterns are often exchanged for eggs. I also encountered this situation when I was collecting styles in Henan: craftsmen who specialize in manual production of patterns are very common in urban and rural areas of our country. When Shen Congwen talked about the paper-cutting of Tahu in his hometown of Xiangxi, he mentioned: The folk paper-cutting patterns of Tahu In addition to being distributed to large townships and small towns in local counties, some products are also marketed by Piaoxiang hawkers to neighboring counties and villages in Sichuan and Guizhou, and have been widely welcomed. Here in villages all over the country, there are also non-professional craftsmen who are skilled in pattern making. They are respected in daily life and gradually turn into professionals. They carry a bamboo box and cage on their backs for many years and travel around the countryside to make a living.
Commercialized folk paper-cutting and folk paper-cutting artists emerged in response to the increasing demand of rural women for a complete collection of good paper-cutting patterns. Their paper-cut art was developed on the basis of the paper-cut art of rural working women. It supplements and extends the expression and style of the former art form. It is an auxiliary factor in the formation of the Chinese folk paper-cut art style. In terms of artistic form expression, It has a certain influence on rural womens paper-cutting skills and artistic style.
