The history of paper-cutting in Yu County
Yuxian paper-cutting art originated in Yuxian County, Hebei Province. Yu County, known as Yuzhou in ancient times, is one of the sixteen prefectures of Yanyun and is located outside the Great Wall. It is the choke point from the mainland of China to the outside of the Great Wall in the past dynasties, and is the transportation hub for traveling from south to north, and from east to west. Historically, the economic boom of Yu County led to the development of culture, and many cultures and arts from other places spread to Yu County. For example, Yangliuqing paintings, Wuqiang wood-block watermark window grilles, Shanxi Bangzi, Bashang duo, Tangshan shadow puppets, etc. were once very popular in Yu County.
Under this special environment and stimulation, two nationally renowned art forms were produced in Yuxian history: one is Yuxian Yangko (ancient name is Yuzhou Bangzi), and the other is Yuxian paper-cutting (also known as Yuxian Bangzi) window grilles). People in Yuzhou have had this custom for a long time: during festivals and festive days, they like to paste some colorful patterns on window paper to beautify the home environment and heighten the festive atmosphere. This is called "window decoration" . It is said that the earliest window grille was "Tianpi Liang": a decoration made of patterned and colored mica flakes. Later, it absorbed the pattern style of Wuqiang wood board watermark window grilles and could be pasted on the windows. The content was mostly dramas and flowers. Later generations called it "grass window flower", which was the situation before the birth of paper-cutting in Yu County.
In fact, there is also a popular "pattern" among the people in Yuzhou for embroidery on shoes, purses, pillows and other items. Peasant artists drew on the "flower" paper-cut form, absorbed the color characteristics of Wuqiang wood-block watermark window grilles and Yangliuqing paintings, and imitated the transparent effect of "sky skin is bright". After long-term creative practice, they gradually formed a kind of artistic style. A novel paper-cut art form made from dyed paper-cuts. This is the prototype of Yu County paper-cuts.
The period from Daoguang (1821-1850) to Guangxu (1875-1908) in the Qing Dynasty was the reform and innovation stage of paper-cutting in Yu County. However, the floral patterns of paper-cutting were relatively simple and only four or five colors were used. The emergence of Wanglaoshang in the 19th century made a great contribution to the development of paper-cutting in Yu County. He was able to dye (dye) when he was seven or eight years old,He started to learn carving at the age of 12 or 3 and has been working for more than 50 years. He has made great development and creation in the window grille art, which has improved the overall creative level of window grille art in Yu County. Most of his characters are depicted in frontal images, with a strong sense of sculpture. The composition and line processing are complete, meticulous, and vigorous. The expression method is also suitable for the transparent and hollow principles of window grilles. The tone is particularly bright, and the production skills and color touches are excellent. Ripe and refined. Wang Laoshangs artistic exploration not only laid a solid foundation for the formation of Yuxian paper-cutting style, but also left many valuable experiences for future generations. In addition, he constantly improved carving tools and carefully studied carving techniques and coloring, leaving extraordinary paper-cutting skills to future generations. When future generations mention Yu County folk paper-cutting, they will naturally think of Wang Laoshang.
More Yu County paper-cutting content:
The origin of paper-cutting in Yu County
Yuxian paper-cut pattern
