Allegorical associations in Chinese folk paper-cut expressions
In folk paper-cutting, allegorical association is also the most common expression language. It is an expression technique that associates objects in nature and gives them special meaning.
"Butterfly Loves Flowers" Jiaozhou Wang Ruiqin
Paper-cutting artists often use allegorical techniques to express their yearning for a better life or to symbolize special connotations. Like a butterfly (male) and a flower (female), butterflies and flowers are combined together; plum blossoms (female) and deer (male), plum blossoms and deer are combined into one picture; a red bat appears in the picture, which means great blessings to the sky; the two The two bats facing each other form a picture, which means double the luck; the five bats mean the five blessings coming to the door.
"Sika Deer" Laiwu Anonymous
Paper-cutting artists advocate auspiciousness, so they often pursue festive content in paper-cutting, and different meanings are formed according to different picture combinations. Among the folk proverbs are: "When a baby steps on a lotus, the couple will have a good match", "If there is a cornucopia under the body, the new daughter-in-law will definitely give birth to a noble son", "There are many seeds in the lotus pod shell, and the noble son will come to my house", "The noble son of the lotus twists." Twist, a young couple can live ninety-nine" and so on vividly and profoundly explain the connotation of the image of the work, thus showing the profound connotation of folk customs.
"Doll Stepping on Lotus" Gao Rulan
Bai Fenglians paper-cut "Setting Flowers", this paper-cut pattern is composed of two dragons playing with beads, a lion rolling a hydrangea, and a fish playing with lotus, which exactly expresses "pair of lions and pairs of lotuses, wealth and wealth at the age of twenty-four" , the profound meaning of "fish playing with lotus flowers, a way for a couple to get married". Allegorical association often uses the form of metaphor to express auspicious meanings. There are mainly simile association, metaphoric association and metonymic association.
"Top Flower" Bai Fenglian
Simile association is something that can be directly associated from the picture. For example, pomegranates, grapes, fish, frogs, mice, etc. are often associated with having many children and grandchildren and strong vitality; as long as there are spiders (folks call them happy spiders), bats, magpies and other images in the picture, it means the arrival of joy, such as happy ( Spiders) descending from the sky, magpies ascending the plum blossoms, joy (magpies) or blessings (bats) in the eyes (the square holes on the money are called eyes) in front of the eyes (copper coins), etc.; Decorating grains on the lantern graphics means a good harvest (lanterns); Mandarin ducks playing with lotuses and flying swallows symbolize harmony, love and happiness between husband and wife; peonies symbolize wealth; dragons and phoenixes symbolize good luck and so on.
"Mandarin Ducks Playing with Lotus" Laiwu Anonymous
Metaphoric association is a method that makes it difficult for viewers to directly see the meaning of idioms. There may not be much direct connection between the object image and the meaning, and it may even be difficult to connect them. The viewer must carefully consider and then find a connection between them. Most of them appear in the form of concepts, and most of them are metaphors for love, symbols of fertility, and symbols of the combination of yin and yang, symbolizing the original Chinese philosophy of endless reproduction of offspring and the original concept of reproduction. Like an eagle stepping on a rabbit, it reflectsThe philosophical concept of yin and yang, positive and negative, and endless life; fish and lotus are used to form a "fish playing with lotus", where the fish represents a man and the lotus represents a woman, implying love (Figure 2-34); Feng'er (male) picks lotus ( Female); egret (male) making love with lotus (female); mandarin duck (male) exploring lotus (female); golden rooster (male) exploring lotus (female) (Picture 2-36); dragon (male) phoenix (female) playing (picture 2-36) 2-37); Phoenix (male) wears peonies (female); Lion (male) rolls hydrangeas (female) (Picture 2-39); Rooster (male) lies on peonies (female); Rat (male) makes trouble with cabbage (female) etc. are also metaphorical symbols. There is also a combination in the metaphor that is close to the external form of the metaphor, such as the Hehe button bowl, which is a metaphor for the joy of union; the bottle is a metaphor for a woman, a pregnant woman; the gourd is shaped like a uterus, a metaphor for the mothers body, and this combination is similar in external form; the gourd and The combination of pomegranate dolls and double happiness characters is used to express the cultural connotation of having children, and it also reflects a certain consistency in the pursuit of inner emotional tendencies by paper-cutting artists.
"Dragon and Phoenix Opera" Laiwu Anonymous
Metaphorical association is also a type of metaphor. For example, if a paper-cut artist cuts a cloud or a crescent moon in the picture, it represents the sky; cutting a snowflake represents the arrival of winter; cutting a few raindrops represents rain; peonies, lotus, chrysanthemums, and plum blossoms represent the arrival of winter. They are the symbols of spring, summer, autumn and winter, etc. It can be seen that these combined patterns with metaphorical meanings in paper-cutting allow people to freely express those deep and vast feelings and ideas that are difficult to express in words.
"The Phoenix Wears the Peony" Laiwu Anonymous
