An introduction to Chinese folk paper-cutting and an overview of Chinese paper-cutting
Paper-cutting is a unique folk cultural form spread throughout my countrys traditional civil society, with a history of more than 3,000 years. Paper-cutting is an important part of Chinese ethnic culture. Its many creators and functions, wide spread, deep influence, and great value are unmatched by other types of art. Paper-cutting is a minimalist art where paper changes its shape with every touch of scissors. The main inheritance of Chinese folk paper-cutting is Chinas hundreds of millions of working women. However, due to the generally low cultural level and low aesthetic level of paper-cutting creators, paper-cutting does not occupy its due position in the history of Chinese art. Like wild flowers all over the mountains and plains, with their vigorous vitality, they bloom and grow year after year in peoples lives. It is a cultural phenomenon that is spontaneously inherited by the people.
The reason why Chinese folk paper-cutting has such tenacious vitality is that folk paper-cutting does not exist in isolation in folk life, but is related to various aspects, such as peoples material living conditions, production levels, history, society and culture. In relation to cultural phenomena, Professor Zhang Zichen said, “Most of it (paper-cutting) is based on folk customs and has a close relationship with folk activities. At the same time, its content and form fully reflect various aspects of folk customs. It is closely intertwined with other folk arts, folk entertainment, especially folk customs. It can be said that it is a three-dimensional existence." It can be seen that folk activities and folk paper-cutting are directly related connect.
Folk paper-cutting is an organic part of folk culture, an image carrier of folk concepts, and an artistic promotion of folk activities. For example, among the burial objects unearthed from the Jin to Tang dynasties in Xinjiang, paper money, paper figures, etc. were found, and the number of paper figures was exactly seven. This further confirms the documentary records and shows that people at that time used paper-cuts as burial objects for the deceased. Believe in Buddhism and pay homage to ghosts and gods.
According to the purpose of paper-cutting, it can be divided into four categories: paper-cutting for posting, paper-cutting for lining, embroidery tapestry patterns, and printing plates for blue calico. It can be seen that the expression carriers of traditional folk paper-cutting are very diverse.
Basic sheet of Chinese folk paper-cuttingElements are lines and blocks, and the basic language symbols are decorative points, lines, and surfaces. Orderly lines are used to transform three-dimensional objects into two-dimensional compositions, and concise lines are used to boldly select and delete materials. Reduce and summarize to highlight the key points of the picture and enhance the expressiveness of the work. Our country has a vast territory, and different regional environmental backgrounds give paper-cutting the regional characteristics of "coarse in the north and beautiful in the south." In the south, Yangzhou paper-cutting is an example. Its characteristics are that it uses paintings as drafts, with concise composition, exaggerated and concise images, and varied techniques. It is innovative, with smooth lines, delicate and straight, giving people a sense of solidity and completeness. It has a graceful, delicate, meticulous and exquisite artistic style and local characteristics. In the north, take Shaanxi paper-cutting as an example. The content is partly to inherit the tradition and partly to be close to life. Shaanxi paper-cutting is characterized by simplicity and roughness, and strong colors and emotions. The themes of folk paper-cutting in different regions express real life, and they all invariably reflect the common visual psychological basis of human thinking, cognition and development stages on which folk paper-cutting relies.
