Yi costume paper-cutting and folk paper-cutting patterns
The paper-cut patterns of the Yi people in Honghe Prefecture, Yunnan Province are mainly used for embroidery bases on clothes, shoes and hats, back quilts, aprons and other clothing. Some of the patterns are based on dragons, phoenixes, unicorns, etc. in myths and legends, and some are based on familiar birds and beasts, flowers, birds, fish and insects, etc. in daily life. These paper-cut patterns are closely related to the social life of the Yi people and inseparable from the traditional culture and living environment of the Yi people. Therefore, the art of paper-cutting has a strong flavor of national life. Patterns are selected according to the users aesthetic needs, including single patterns and combined patterns. The clothing patterns of elderly women are generally dominated by dragon patterns, which appear mature and stable; while the clothing patterns of young women are dominated by phoenix and unicorn patterns, which appear free, lively and energetic. Appliques are generally made by cutting hard paper patterns with scissors and pasting them on cloth of different colors, and then using colored silk threads to embroider and sew them on the back, chest, shoulders, sleeves and other parts of the clothes. The layout of clothing patterns pays attention to symmetry and foil, and the pattern content pays attention to formal beauty and pursues diversity. Each pattern and shape can firmly grasp the main characteristics of the thing and express it vividly. Moreover, the shapes of the same thing are also in various forms and postures. In the creation of paper-cut patterns, exaggeration techniques are fully used to appropriately express the characteristics and essence of things. Generally, there are not many women who can paper-cut in villages. By inheriting and carrying forward the traditional style of paper-cut, they use their understanding of life, unique aesthetics, and rich imagination and processing to cut many beautiful and lifelike shapes. The clothing patterns express their understanding and understanding of life in a general and vivid way.
As a part of culture and art, Yi paper-cutting is not only a decorative pattern for Yi womens clothing, but also has a certain symbolic nature, contains profound connotations, and expresses the aesthetics of the Yi people. Just like the "dragon" pattern, it is the inheritance and development of the dragon totem worship of the ancestors of the Yi people, and it occupies a prominent position in clothing patterns. The original concepts of "dragon species" and "dragon begets the barbarians" prompted people to attach dragon patterns to women who reproduced in the art form as a sign that they were "dragon species". Phoenix and unicorn are also prominent in the Yi paper-cut patterns. Legend has it that the phoenix has a chicken head, snake neck, swallow feathers,The magical and illusory image of a turtles back and fishs tail, five colors and about six feet high, is considered by the Yi people to be a sacred object that benefits people. It is reflected in the artistic image on clothing and pillow patterns as a symbol of good luck and happiness. Yi girls must wear phoenix and unicorn clothes when they are young and when they get married, and they must learn relevant paper-cutting tutorials, which are the idealized symbols of beauty and kindness of the Yi people.
The entire process of Yi womens clothing, from design, cutting, pasting, embroidery, and sewing, has been devoted to Yi womens efforts. It can be said that Yi womens clothing is a precious work of art and has high practical value. and artistic value.
