Folk stories contained in Wang Jiru’s paper-cuttings
Folklore is also called folk oral narrative literature. Generally composed of stories about historical figures, local customs, etc., involving family, marriage, folk customs and habits, etc., and are mainly spread among common people. Folklore can take many forms. It can be transmitted orally, left to future generations in written form, or transmitted in the form of performances. Elder Wang Jiru has chosen the unique art form of paper-cutting to pass on folklore through visual images. This not only has profound historical significance, but also has excellent collection and research value for the majority of art researchers.
The paper-cutting content of old man Wang Jiru that expresses folklore can be roughly divided into the following categories: First, character legends, which are centered on characters and mainly describe their life deeds and fate, and also express people’s feelings towards them. Sympathy for these legendary figures. Such as the legend of Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai, the legend of Meng Jiangnu crying at the Great Wall, the legend of the twenty-four filial piety, etc. The second is myths and legends. These legends mainly use snake gods, water gods, kitchen gods, eight immortals, etc. as the main narrative objects. They reflect the peoples desire for a safe life, good weather and good harvests. Especially the people living along the Yellow River have long been Suffering from the ravages of floods, I always hope in my heart to have the protection of "God" to protect myself from the floods. The third is historical legends. These legends mainly describe true stories in history and are used to educate or inspire the will of future generations, such as the story of Cao Chong weighing the elephant, the story of the Yang family generals, etc. Any art is a creation derived from life and higher than life.
We deeply feel that the author is good at thinking and making subtle observations about real life, and is more able to follow the realistic principles of traditional Chinese culture and satisfy the ideal wishes of rural people. It can be seen that his works are created based on the feelings of production labor and life experience. They have a strong flavor of life. They express the beauty in nature and life in the form of art and pursue the ideal beauty in life. , inheriting folk customs and customs. It can be reflected that the content of folk paper-cutting is inseparable from its folk customs, natural environment and social environment. They influence each other and jointly form a unique artistic and cultural model, which is unique among many paper-cutting arts. The scissors of old man Wang JiruPaper is the representative of the Communist nature of paper-cutting art along the Yellow River and has more universal significance.
