The art form and theme of Chinese folk paper-cutting
As a relatively common folk art, Chinese folk paper-cutting has a wide range of themes, mainly showing people, things, and objects in daily life, as well as ancient figures and historical stories. These themes are mostly expressed through techniques such as symbolism, exaggeration, homophony, and allegory, and ultimately convey the theme of praying for blessings and receiving good fortune, seeking benefits and avoiding disadvantages.
Generally speaking, the character themes of folk paper-cutting mostly represent gods in folk beliefs, various characters in history and opera stories; the plant themes mostly represent flowers representing the four seasons and flowers and plants with symbolic and auspicious connotations; animal themes Most of them represent auspicious animals such as dragons and phoenixes, or animals that are considered auspicious homophones; there are also some geometric patterns and characters with traditional meanings; in some places where opera is popular, various themes showing opera scenes are also very common; from folk Various combinations of paper-cuts directly evolved from myths and legends, such as fish leaping over the dragon gate, music, chess, calligraphy and painting, etc., are also deeply loved by the people. After the founding of the Peoples Republic of China, "new paper-cutting" appeared for the purpose of political propaganda. Although there are a few successful works with a flavor of modern life, most of them are engravings that illustrate political slogans. In recent years, although the themes of paper-cutting are still mainly traditional patterns, many paper-cuttings that reflect real-life themes have gradually increased, and some paper-cuttings that draw on other artistic themes continue to appear, such as those that draw on traditional Chinese painting forms that have emerged in recent years. Paper-cutting, with themes such as flowers and birds, grass and insects, figures, landscapes, and erudition, is similar to traditional Chinese painting without losing the interest of paper-cutting, making people feel both familiar and novel. In addition, some artists use Western oil paintings or modern paintings as themes and express them in the form of paper-cutting, which is also loved by some customers.
After thousands of years of development, the functions of paper-cutting can be roughly divided into three categories. The first type is festival folk paper-cutting, including paper-cutting such as window grilles and door notes posted during the Spring Festival, as well as paper-cutting used in festival lantern crafts. These paper-cuts used for festivals convey the meaning and meaning of the festival and show the peoples wishes for a better life. The second type is various kinds of fireworks, that is, various paper-cuts used in life rituals such as weddings, funerals, birthdays, etc. These paper-cuts not only play a decorative role, but are also the expression and important content of these ritual activities. For example, wedding flowers,“囍" expresses blessings for the newlyweds to be happy and have a baby soon. It is not only posted on the ceiling and windows, but also used for wedding decorations, furniture, bedding and other utensils; it is also used for birthdays, fertility, and prayers. Various festive folk paper-cuts are used for weddings, housewarming, gift-giving, etc. In addition, soul flags, paper money, paper horses and other paper-cuts used for funerals are an important custom or form of spiritual sustenance among Chinese people. The third can be It is called decorative paper-cutting. From a decorative point of view, they include various window decorations, wall decorations, ceiling flowers, furniture decals for home decoration, as well as paper-cut decorative patterns, that is, patterns, used for clothing and accessories. Modern paper-cutting basically continues The folk customs and decorative functions of traditional paper-cutting have been eliminated, especially in rural areas. Paper-cutting such as wedding flowers, longevity flowers, and door-notes are still retained, but they are not as common as before. Some such as shoe flowers, Kangwei flowers, clothing flowers, Paper-cuts such as gifts and flowers have gradually faded out of our sight, and the functions of paper-cuts have tended to become more secular, especially in cities, where their collection has gradually surpassed their functions.
